


White Clover

by blackamaryllis



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Armin's sass is especially unappreciated, Bouquets, Dead Carla, Dicks, Eren Is a Little Shit, Eventual Levi/Eren Yeager, Eyebrows, Flowers, Genderfluid, Genderfluid Eren, Glasses Levi, Grisha Yeager's Bad Parenting, I'm Sorry, Implied Marco Bott/Jean Kirstein, Lace, Language of Flowers, Levi/Eren Yeager-centric, Light Angst, M/M, Male Hanji, Minor Erwin Smith/Mike Zacharias, Minor Marco Bott/Jean Kirstein, Mother-son angst, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, PETRA is a bitch in this one, Quiche, Sass, Sassmin, Slow Build, Slurs, Snarky Eren, Transphobia, all the cusses, angelic eren, asshole Jean, business levi, but is that really a surprise to anyone, company manager levi, eren in a dress fuck yeah, erwin's fucking eyebrows, everyone's sass is unappreciated, florist, flustered marco, hannes - Freeform, i can't believe this bullshit, mike and pinterest, omg that's a tag, rude ass eren, yankee candles
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-11-09
Updated: 2017-01-29
Packaged: 2018-04-30 20:30:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 20,678
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5178593
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blackamaryllis/pseuds/blackamaryllis
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Eren is a gender fluid florist and Levi is a high-up in a giant corporate office. AU idea from Tumblr. </p><p>Or, the AU in which we get to see Eren in a sun dress.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hiya! This AU was from Tumblr user nispas. I've also gotten their blessing to write it, so yay for me. Hope you enjoy!

Eren never really minded when the new delivery of baby's breath caught in the lace of her sun dress, and she always had enough ribbon to complement the colors of every bouquet or flower she sold. Her regular customers were no strangers to the warmth that brightened her teal eyes when they walked through the front door, jingling the bell, or the surprisingly detailed small talk Eren was able to have with them with every flower they asked for.

  
When Armin walked through those wooden doors that morning, he found Eren using the bobby pins held between her lips to pin up her short hair. Her eyes lit up when she saw her childhood friend, trying to talk through the pins in her mouth, pointing excitedly to the buckets of alstroemerias on the counter. _The spring season, and we got the first batch of these guys._

  
The blond shook his head when he saw Eren's attire for the day, the soft white fabric loosely gathered at her waist and then clinging to her hips, dwindling off to delicate lace at her shins. She had paired the dress with elegant heels of the same color, the ones she swore were comfortable but Armin was convinced otherwise. He couldn't understand why Eren chose to wear clothes that always caught in everything at the shop. Eren had explained many times over that it made her feel female, made her feel beautiful and happy with who she was. And if that was a part of Eren's happiness concerning her fluidity, Armin wasn't complaining.

  
"Armin, could you go and turn them shop sign around? It's almost eight." Eren's voice cut through the comfortable silence, and Armin nodded, walking to the door, turning the sign to 'OPEN.' He admired the handmade sign every time he turned it over. It was framed by wood and had a middle rectangle of blackboard, which Eren liked to draw on. Usually, it was covered in a chalk drawing of a strange steaming giant with his mouth gaping open, the word 'OPEN' or 'CLOSED' coming from his mouth. When Armin asked about it, years ago, Eren had laughed and said it was a dream that she'd had.

  
Even if Eren was one to brag about the patronage of her flower shop, she wouldn't have been exaggerating if she said that she had visitors who came daily, and the number was growing every day. She was hardly surprised when the first customer walked in not even five minutes after Armin had opened the store, just smiled brightly and waved to Marco, who grinned and waved back. Marco was probably one of her most frequent customers, and one of her favorites.

"This for Jean?" She asked with a knowing gleam in her eye and the freckled customer nodded, scarlet blooming across his cheeks.

  
"His birthday is today."

  
Eren murmured a quiet "congratulations" somewhere in between humming and pulling out the scissors from her tool belt. "Honestly, Marco, you're Jesus or something. I've never seen someone put so much thought into flowers. And you aren't even dating him yet, right?"

 

Said Freckled Jesus shook his head, smiling softly. "No, but I want to ask him out soon. I mean, if he's taking the flowers and he doesn't think it's weird, that must be a sign, right? Oh, by the way, your dress looks really nice."

  
The scissors came down on the wooden table with the indigo ribbon it had just cut while Eren did a twirl. "You think so? I had to have Mikasa bring in the chest a little, but otherwise it fit perfectly when I tried it on at the store." She picked up the ribbon again, glancing around the flowers on display and frowning with her lip caught between her teeth. "Indigo should work, right? Do you have any flowers in mind?"

Marco glanced around the store briefly before his gaze landed on the light purple tulips near the back room. He flicked his eyes back to Eren questioningly, gesturing to them, and Eren nodded. “Nice choice. Tulips are a declaration of love.”

“I doubt he knows the language of flowers, Eren.”

Eren shrugged and pulled a few tulips from the bucket, then thought for a moment and reached for the white camellias as well. Those were rare, and Eren had gotten in by begging for a shipment from Hannes. Marco raised an eyebrow at them, when he realized the meaning of the blooms. Eren just grinned at him as she tried to see if tulips and camellias went well together, and Marco shook his head at her antics. “Eren, I wouldn’t really say ‘you’re adorable.’”

“Really? I’ve heard you use it a few times.”

“Shut up.”

For a while, Eren messed around with the balance of purple and white before deciding that no, tulips and camellias didn’t really go together very well. Sighing, she begrudgingly put them back in the bucket, picking up her scissors and snipping the tulip stems to what she thought was appropriate. She worked in comfortable silence with Marco perched on one of the stools next to the workspace.

There was a faint buzzing, and Eren rolled her teal eyes as she pulled her phone out of her pocket and all but growled into the mic. “I’m working. What.”

Marco eyed Eren nervously. It was no secret to her regular customers that while Eren was the most considerate person they’d ever met, when she lost it, she. Lost. It. Marco was pretty sure that if Eren got angry enough, she would send sailors crying home to mothers with her colorful language, not to mention the way she handed out middle fingers like it was morning coffee.

He breathed a sigh of relief when, after a few terse words, Eren hung up the phone, and the comfortable silence resumed. It always seemed to be only Eren working at the shop. All the scissors were her personal ones, and Marco remembered she had mentioned buying all of her equipment and tool belts herself, as well as some of the stuff in the back. All the other shop regulars never really seemed to talk about any other employee.

“Hey, Eren.”

“Hm?” Eren had a piece of green wire between her lips and hummed her response to Marco’s question.

“Does anyone else even work here? I only ever really see you.”

Eren scoffed and pulled one of the straps of her dress back onto her shoulder from where it had slipped. “Don’t wanna see me anymore? I’m hurt.”

Marco shook his head vigorously, hands coming up in front of him defensively. “No, that’s not what I-”

“Relax,” Eren laughed, securing the tulip stems with the wire and weaving the indigo ribbon she had decided on to hide the metal. “Armin works in the back most of the time, so you don’t see him too much, I guess. And Hannes takes care of the shipments, inventory, and orders. Mikasa is in charge of finances and also making sure we have enough equipment. But yeah, I take care of everything else and also work the shop, but that was the whole point of me opening the shop, anyway.”

That caused Marco’s eyes to widen a little. “You’re the owner?”

Eren looked up from where she was stapling the elaborate bow she had made and tying it to the one already around the bouquet. “Huh? Yeah. You didn’t know?”

“Nope. Not at all.”

“My mom used to be a florist too,” she said, smiling a little. “So I sort of picked it up.” She left it at that, and handed the completed bouquet to Marco.

It wasn’t a sort of in-your-face bouquet, but it had a quaintness and delicateness that was hard to achieve. That’s what most of Eren’s customers liked about her works; they weren’t gaudy or over-the-top like a lot of the big floral businesses. This particular one was simple; she had chosen purple and white tulips with palm leaves curled over themselves to give it extra shape. It was tied with the dark satin ribbon at the stem and wrapped in a rustic burlap. “Like it?”

It was times like these that sent Eren’s heart beating nervously. She was always concerned about whether or not her customers liked her flowers, despite the numerous times they had assured her that it was the rustic simplicity and elegant style of her bouquets that her customers loved. So when Marco nodded, his eyes lighting up, Eren couldn’t help but feel a rush of pride.

“It’s beautiful. How much do I owe you?”

“Five bucks.”

“You’re kidding.”

“Nope.”

Marco frowned. “Eren, that’s less than half price.”

Eren waved a hand dismissively, already walking back to the fridge to check on inventory. “It’s Jean’s birthday present.” She ignored Marco muttering about how she didn’t even know Jean as he left the money on the counter, and smiled to herself as she sauntered into the back room and met gazes with Armin, who had his eyes narrowed.

**"So. About that giant sale you just pulled on a twelve-bloom bouquet."**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! I'm on Tumblr as fairly-impolite-trousers and am tracking the tag fic: white clover if y'all wanna talk to me about it there!
> 
> Don't forget to leave me a comment! I love hearing what you think!


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Armin's sass is so unappreciated, Levi is a troubled terrifying nerd, and if you can't tell already, I think Eren is such a babe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had so much fun writing this. Also, it's up pretty quickly because I don't know when I'll get the chance to write for this. I'm hella busy right now and it's killing the vibe :(
> 
> Special thanks to: FreckledSkittles(ily) for being best beta reader and also best babe. 
> 
> Hopefully I didn't fuck it up. Here you go.

"Um... It's National Give-Away-A-Flower Day?" Eren grinned sheepishly and Armin sighed, flipping his phone open --naturally, to Eren's growing horror.

"That is the biggest bullshit I've heard since you told Sina Financial Group we had enough staffing to fill a VIP banquet order in two days," he murmured as the line rung.

"We managed to fill the order," Eren argued, fiddling with the lace of her dress.

"Yeah, with all of us going 48 hours without sleep."

"Armin, we don't talk about that."

“It happened last week. I’m going to talk about it.”

The two were silent for a while as Armin waited for Mikasa to pick up her phone. They both knew Mikasa was incredibly strict about finances, mostly because besides the shop being fairly small, Eren would probably let it go bankrupt with the way she always tried to discount her prices or give pieces away.

"Hello?" The voice from across the line was smooth and collected. "Do you need something?"

"Yeah," Armin replied, leaning his elbow on the counter, "First thing in the morning today Eren decides to-"

"Wish you a great day," Eren finished for him quickly, snatching the phone from her blond friend. She shot a glare at Armin, who gestured for her to return the phone, to which the brunette shook her head, eyes narrowing.

There was a long pause on the other end of the line. "All right, what did you break, who did you explode at, what did you give away, and where should I send an apology letter?" Eren winced at her sister’s sharp, cutting words while Armin snickered.

This was far from the first time Eren had done something to anger her sister this month, and she knew her patience was wearing thin. In fact, April hadn’t even rolled around yet by the time Eren had managed to push a rude customer out of the store and have a shouting match with them, so loudly and so packed with expletives that the neighboring cafe had complained.

Having given up on trying to retrieve his device from the lace-clad brunette currently biting her lip, Armin had chosen to just speak a little louder so Mikasa could still hear him. "This idiot gave away a twelve-bloom of tulips for five bucks,” he yelled in the general direction of Eren, who then promptly glared and shoved her middle finger in the air. "Apparently, it was Marco's boyfriend's birthday."

“They’re not dating yet,” Eren retorted, and then after a beat, muttered under her breath, “asshole.” Armin saw her visibly flinch the next second from whatever was coming out of the phone, and then pull the phone away from her ear for a few seconds before returning it.

“Fine,” she huffed, “I’ll be careful not to do it again.” She sandwiched the phone between her cheek and shoulder, noticing that the vibrant amaryllises in the front window had been sitting in the heat of the sun for too long. _Pride_. She hadn’t really been thinking about the language of the flowers she put in the window lately. Most didn’t seem to notice, anyway. She grabbed the bucket and hauled it back to the fridge, switching it out for a freshly-watered soil pot of the smaller, perkier begonias which she guessed should be able to bear the coming noon warmth. She knew that if any one of her regulars walked through the door, they would raise an eyebrow at that, but she didn’t really mind. Although they were flowers of warning, begonias were quite pretty.

Armin had noticed that even though Eren’s primary focus was cut flowers, she did like to have a few soil pots around to take care of and show off. Come springtime, she usually kept begonias and marigolds at the shop, but she also had a vast collection of succulents hanging from hooks on the ceiling in her apartment.

Armin snapped out of his thoughts as Eren’s voice cut through the shop again. “Yeah. Uh-huh. Listen, I’m really scared that I’m gonna drop the phone in a begonia pot, so can I hang up? Right. Love you. Don’t stay mad.” There was a faint click as she shut off the phone, sighing and sagging against the wall.

“Fuck you, Armin.”

“No, thanks.”

x-x-x

Levi sat at his desk with his head back in exasperation against the plush leather of his chair. There was so much that he still hadn’t done to finish up the last of his tasks concerning the VIP banquet the week before. He sighed, pushing his glasses back on his face and logging into the company client. By the time he’d managed to pull out the guest list from his drawer, the computer had already bleeped with a message, and the raven-haired man glanced at the screen.

**Petra Ral: Hi Levi. Everything going alright for you today?**

**Levi Ackerman: It’s fine.**

**Petra Ral: Great! By the way, thank you so much for agreeing to go on a date again tonight :)**

**Levi Ackerman: Don’t mention it.**

_Seriously, please don’t mention it._ Levi sighed and clicked the minimize button. Petra was not someone he ever imagined himself dating, let alone being in a relationship with. And if the words of Petra’s father weren’t looming over him like an ominous curse, he probably would have rejected her on the spot with his signature deadpan.

Females were deadly, he had decided. Especially the office girls in the Trost marketing department. Levi was fairly sure that they were the only people in the company who weren’t terrified of him, because as far as he knew, everyone else avoided his gaze and seemed to start shaking in his presence. Aside from Petra, there was Rico, Hitch, and Nifa. He would answer that Nifa and Petra were probably the more palatable of the four if he was asked, but with Mr. Ral being one of the company’s board of directors and threatening Levi to take away his job unless he dated Petra, he really couldn’t say.

Levi shook his head to clear his thoughts and looked back to his checklist. _Call florist for thanks. (XXX)xxx-xxxx._ It was a miracle they’d found that little florist just a couple blocks down the street that could manage to pull off an event on such short notice. Little Rose, was it? He remembered being thoroughly impressed that he saw only flowers with relevant meanings to the banquet: wealth, hope, success, good luck, gratitude. Although he usually kept that sort of thought to himself, he wondered if Little Rose was one of the few flower shops that still had the language of flowers in its back pocket.

“Hi, Little Rose flower shop. Can I help you?” The voice from the other end was cheerful.

“Hello, my name is Levi Ackerman, from Sina Financial Group, and--”

“Oh, hi! It was so nice working with you the other day!”

“Right. Well, I’m just calling to thank you, and to ask where we should wire the money.”

There was a slight rustling on the other end, and Levi heard snippets of a quick exchange of words. “Sorry, uh...Levi, was it?” Levi found himself nodding, despite the fact that the cheery florist couldn’t see him. “We don’t really have an electronic payment system set up yet, so,” more rustling, “do you think there’s an alternative?”

That was surprising for Levi to hear, but he replied quickly. “That’s not a problem. If you’d give us an address, we can drop off a check.”

“Cool,” the male voice on the other end exclaimed, and Levi smirked at the lack of professional stiffness in his tone. “We’re on the intersection of St. Maria and Stohess, next to the Shiganshina Cafe. If you come at around five, I can have three wisteria bunches hanging in the front window so you know where it is.”

Wisterias. _Welcome_. So the shop did have knowledge of flower meanings.

“All right, see you at five, then,” Levi answered. “Thanks again.”

As he hung up the phone, the holy numbers of _12:00pm_ pulsed at him through the computer screen, and without hesitation he shut down his computer and headed to the staff room. It was a room specifically for employees to eat, socialize, or take a quick coffee break.

He met Petra’s gaze as he walked in, and suppressed the urge to walk right out as he took a cup of steaming coffee from the machine.

“Hi, Levi,” she said, smiling softly and patting the empty counter spot next to her. He reluctantly joined Petra and her friends there, nodding at each of them in turn.

“I still can’t believe you two are together now,” Hitch gushed, face flushed from her coffee. “Who would've thought: Petra Ral, shy little auburn from the marketing department, is dating Levi Ackerman, terrifying hotshot manager from the financing department? It’s, like, some kind of cliche office romance story. Except Levi’s name inspires pure fear and he’s also really short.” Levi sent a murderous glare at Hitch, who mysteriously decided to stop talking after that.

“Yeah,” Petra giggled, grasping the sleeve of Levi’s shirt with her free hand, to Levi’s chagrin, “we’re going on a date tonight, too.”

 _We are?_ Levi took a moment, but then remembered that yes, he had promised that. So he nodded again, taking a sip of coffee to excuse himself for not really talking.

“Oh?” Nifa grinned, giving Levi her famous cat-like stare. “Are you going to get her flowers, Levi?”

“I am,” he answered smoothly, without missing a beat. “There’s a great little shop on the intersection of St. Maria and Stohess.” Thank god for that chipper florist. “They did the flowers for the VIP banquet from the other day, the one the Reeves’ and the Reiss’ were invited to.”

“I was there for setup,” Rico murmured, biting into a sandwich. “There was a really cute boy working for them. Looked like he walked straight out of a photo shoot in the Caribbean.”

That sent Hitch tumbling back into the conversation. “Really? He’s that hot?” She bit her lip, thinking. “Maybe dating a florist would be pretty great.” She frowned when Nifa slapped her lightly on the arm, laughing. “Hey, you laugh now, but that means he’ll be super romantic with his flowers and all.” She turned to Levi, grinning. “So on that note, can I join you on your trip to Little Rose?”

Somehow, when Levi came back to his senses, he had begrudgingly agreed to let all four join in on the short walk to Little Rose. Sighing, he excused himself to the restroom and glared menacingly at his reflection in the mirror.

_Jesus Christ, what a shitfest._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading! As always, I'm on Tumblr as fairly-impolite-trousers and am tracking the tag fic: white clover if y'all wanna talk to me about it there!
> 
>  
> 
> Don't forget to leave me a comment! I love hearing what you think!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope I portrayed this at least with somewhat accuracy. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.
> 
> Also, I like Petra. I really do. I just hate her in the context of this fic. 
> 
> Special thanks to beta reader FreckledSkittles, for helping me edit this and for appreciating the amount of time it takes me to research flower meanings and flowering seasons <3
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

“I cannot believe,” Levi grumbled, “that I let them invite themselves over to the one respite I have from that fucking auburn hair today.”

He'd gotten little work done since the fiasco at lunch, and the work was piling up on his desk--either from Pixis, head of the Trost branch, or from Hanji Zoë, who, despite being Levi's subordinate, was leaps and bounds ahead of him in every other way.

The knock at the door that came next was unwelcome, to say the very least, and Levi let out a noncommittal grunt to invite in the shaking girl, who, by the way, had been standing outside for at least twenty minutes before finally mustering up the courage to come into contact with said manager. His stoic secretary, Annie, had told him so. She scrambled in, wiping the sweat on her palms onto her skirt, to Levi’s disgust. He pulled the handkerchief from his front pocket and offered it, pinched between his thumb and index finger, to the dark-haired girl. “Take it,” he muttered. “You’re sweating like a pig.”

“I-I’m so sorry,” she apologized, taking the fabric and gripping it tightly. “I’ll wash this and return i-”

“Keep it.”

“Yes, sir.”

He raised an eyebrow quizzically at the folder she carried under her right arm as she fidgeted with the cloth, and she jumped when she realized he was watching her. With trembling hands, she set the folder on his desk, closed and facing him, as her coworker had warned her to do.

“I’m Mina, Mina Carolina, from sales. I transferred from marketing last month.”

Levi nodded knowingly. It was common knowledge at Sina that no new employee could last longer than a month and a half with Hitch and the others; in fact, most requested a transfer within three weeks to another department. “So you’re in Hanji's team," he muttered, grimacing.

Mina hesitated, gulping. "You're not on good terms with Dr. Zoë?"

"I am," replied Levi, sighing. "But he's been piling up work on my desk since this morning. You see that?" He pointed to a rather intimidating stack of paperwork on the corner of his desk. "All from him. And what you're holding, that's another one, right?"

Mina nodded mutely, apologetically, as if all of the work piled onto her terrifying boss was somehow her fault. "I-I can maybe, er, convince Dr. Zoë to-"

"It's fine." He cut her off dismissively. "But when you go back, tell Hanji that if I see another packet of numbers and investment logs delivered to my office today, I will shove his shitty glasses up his ass." He looked up at Mina with a cold, hard gaze. "I've got somewhere to be by five, and I'm not about to miss my appointment. Do I make my point clear?"

"Y-Yes, sir."

"Good.” He leaned back in his chair, refocusing his gaze on the screen. “Dismissed.”

She didn't have to be told twice.

x-x-x

"What does Sina Financial Group do, anyway? I see it everywhere, but they don't, like, _do_ anything." Eren was muttering to herself, clipping alstroemeria leaves off the stem in a bowl of water, and almost seemed startled when Krista giggled from the other side of the counter.

"It's basically a giant investment firm, except they also invest their own profits in a lot of land here in Trost, not to mention abroad. That’s why they’ve got departments like marketing and finances, instead of just sales and operations. Well, they’ve only just started those new investments last year, though.”

“They own almost half of all the property in Trost that could possibly be considered prime real estate, and they’re still buying,” Armin chirped from the back. “It’s amazing how explosively they grew.” He was taking orders from the telephone, and scrawling names and phone number hurriedly on a notebook.

Eren sighed. “How do you guys know so much about this? I mean, Armin, I’m not surprised, but you too, Krista?” The scissors went back in her belt and she tied the bundle, with newspaper first to keep the stems from snapping, and then with burlap, since Krista had mentioned it was a long drive home.

Krista shook her head. “The only reason I know anything is because Ymir does a lot of investment stuff. She wanted to apply for a job at Sina, in finances, but there’s this girl, Mina, that I know from high school. She works in the finance department in Sina. Her manager is apparently terrifying, and the stress he gives her isn’t worth the salary.”

Eren hummed in response, carefully inserting the message tag Krista had written into the bundle, and securing it with a stapler. “He’s that bad, huh? Well, I guess you have to be uptight to work in a place like that.” She rung up the bouquet and--thanks to Armin’s warning--took Krista’s payment in full, making sure Krista knew to keep the flowers in a cool environment for as long as possible. The blonde nodded, smiling, and yelled something about Eren eating dinner for once before the door shut, bell jingling merrily.

x-x-x

Eren teetered dangerously on the ladder as she leaned over to a precarious angle to clip a few wisteria bunches off of the tree outside the store.

“Eren, was this really necessary? You could have just told that guy from Sina that we were right under the wisteria tree.”

“It was so necessary. I want to welcome a potential big customer.” Satisfied with what she had in her hands, she scampered down the metal and grinned at Armin, dragging the ladder back inside. Her voice was still cheerful, despite the tiredness that had crept in since the early afternoon, and she sighed, satisfied, when she had hung them up in the window display. “I hope he likes it.”

“You sound like such a nerd,” Armin muttered.

“Do not!”

“Do too.”

“Asshole.” But she couldn’t hide the amused smile on her face as she stalked to the back to take a look at the orders Armin had written down. Sometimes, customers asked for flowers that weren’t in season, or that they couldn’t keep at the shop, so Eren would have to go back and either refuse the order or negotiate on whether they could change the design a little. It was tedious work, but Eren was convinced that working on every detail with her customers was what made the flowers look their best. Bouquets don’t mean anything if I make one they can’t smile at, she’d said once, when Armin had suggested pre-making bouquets.

“Just make sure you’re done with those by five,” he warned, and received a noncommittal yell of acknowledgement from behind the thick door. “That guy from Sina is coming.” Another vague noise that sounded like Eren had heard him. It was good enough.

The blond sat down to calculate the amount they would need to restock, and it didn't seem too long before the bell jingled and the door opened.

Intimidating was the first word Armin would have used to describe the man that walked through the door, accompanied by four women. He was short in stature, shorter than the blond, and his black hair fell over his glasses and his dark, piercing eyes.

He gestured towards the wisterias in the display window with an amused smirk. “Was that really necessary?”

“That’s what I said,” murmured Armin, taking in the authoritative aura that emanated from the man. “Are you Levi, from Sina Group?”

“I am.” he answered. He voice wasn’t terribly deep, nor did it carry an excessive amount of intensity, but his words sounded velvet, powerful--as if he’s spent most of the day dealing with people who were, quite frankly, much scarier than the blond. “This is yours.” He handed Armin an envelope. “Make sure it’s correct.”

Armin broke the seal and confirmed the check inside, but his eyes widened when he saw the amount enclosed. “Sir? We only agreed on a six hundred dollar price.” The check had included an extra four hundred.

But Levi just nodded. “We received a lot of compliments on the floral arrangements. Think of it as a gift for helping the banquet run smoothly. And also as an invitation to do more of our events in the future.” He glanced over at Petra, who was admiring a pot of Carolina jasmines. _Separation._

 _How ironic,_ Levi thought dryly, as he caught her attention. “Don’t touch the flowers. Your hands still have ink on them from today.”

“But I washed them.”

“Not well enough.” Petra’s lips flattened into a line.

“Anywho,” Armin broke in, eager to get out of the presence of Levi and his entourage, “We’re about to close for the day, so if there isn’t anything else-”

“We want to see the cute guy Rico talked about,” Hitch blurted bluntly, and Armin could have sworn Levi made a _tch_ sound under his breath.

“I was talking on the phone earlier to one of the employees,” Levi explained irritably, “And these four happened to hear me. Apparently, there was someone setting up at the banquet that they thought was attractive. And that was enough to invite themselves over here.”

Armin frowned. Everyone who worked at Little Rose was setting up that day. “Could you give me a quick description?”

“Brunet,” drawled Rico. “Teal eyes, tanned skin...and a great butt, if I may say so myself.” She exchanged grins with Hitch and Nifa on that sentence.

“That would be Eren,” Armin nodded slowly. “In the back.”

“Well, can you tell Eren to come outside?”

“Yeah, sure, hold on.” He elbowed the thick door, hard, and yelled in Eren’s general direction. “Eren! People want to meet you!”

“Just a second,” came the muffled reply. A few moments later, Eren came running out, and immediately broke into a wide grin when she saw Rico. “You’re from Sina Group, right? I remember you from the banquet!” She then turned to Levi, apparently oblivious to Hitch, Nifa, and Petra’s shocked expressions. “And you must be Levi. We talked on the phone. I’m Eren Jaeger.” She stuck out a hand to shake.

“Nice to meet you, Jaeger,” Levi said, in his usual half-bored tone, and took her hand. “I’ve given the check to your friend here.”

“Oh, to Armin? Sweet. Thanks so much!”

“He’s-...” The voice came from Hitch, who was staring at Eren as if her existence personally offended her.

“Hm?” She glanced at Hitch. “What’s wrong?”

“Rico never told me the cute boy from the flower shop was a _crossdresser_.” She looked Eren up and down, one eyebrow raised.

Eren sighed, trying to keep her fists from curling. “I’m not a crossdresser. Right now, I am _female_.”

_Breathe. Inhale, exhale. Count to ten._

“You’re clearly a boy, Eren.” Petra piped up, her voice soft. “Biologically, I mean. I wouldn’t know whether you’re a transgender or not, but you obviously look like a male.”

“I’m genderfluid, and I am not a boy.” _She’s just ignorant._

“But that’s what you are. Plus,  I’m sure Hitch was just surprised-”

_Fuck controlling my breathing and fuck counting._

She gasped as Eren grabbed her by her dress shirt collar, teal eyes dangerously angry. “First of all,” she seethed, “I am female. I am _fluid_. And therefore, for right now, I am _female_. I don’t give a _fuck_ about what you see, I am female and I am to be addressed as such. Get that through your little empty china doll head first.” Petra had both hands on Eren’s wrist, but the brunette was much stronger. “Secondly, no one is _a_ transgender. Got it?”

“That term isn’t supposed to be used as a noun,” Armin explained, pulling uselessly at Eren’s other arm. “It doesn’t define who they are. Eren, let go of her.”

Eren finally released Petra, who was glaring at the teal-eyed girl. “You,” she said, looking at Petra and Hitch, and then briefly at Rico and Nifa, “and you, and you, and also you, should probably get the _hell_ out of my store. I don’t want to deal with transphobic bitches right now.”

Hitch gave Eren a look before stalking out, followed by the rest of the girls. Murmurs of _wow_ and _I can’t believe that asshole_ hung in the heavy, empty air for long seconds after they had walked out.

Eren sighed and put both hands on the counter, her head falling forward in emotional fatigue.

“I’m so sorry, sir,” Armin started apologizing profusely to Levi. “Eren has a little bit of a temper, and she can’t stand when people are being rude in the store-...”

But the raven just shook his head, a smirk on his face. “Just Levi is fine. They were in the wrong, even when Eren corrected them--especially my girlfriend, the auburn-haired one.” He glanced at Eren, whose face was contorted in a silent ‘o’ of horror with her eyes wide, in what Levi could only describe as an _oh shit_ expression. “You really did a number on her, Eren. I doubt I’ll hear the end of it on our date tonight.”

“I’m...sorry?” It came out sort of like a prayer.

“It’s fine. Don’t worry about it.” He turned to leave, but then stopped and glanced back at the counter. “I know you’re about to close up shop, but do you have time to make one more bouquet?”

Eren froze, blinking owlishly at Levi. “You want _me_ to make a bouquet for _her,_ after what I said to her?”

“Yes.”

“Are you _insane_?”

“Possibly. Yellow carnations, if you have them.”

“We do, but…” Yellow carnations. _Disdain_. “Are you sure you want yellow carnations? Just those? Nothing else?”

Levi nodded. “I’m sure. Just yellow carnations and nothing else.”

“Alright…” She cut a satin ribbon of light pink, choosing this time to wind and weave it between the stems, almost as if she were braiding the flowers. She stripped the yellow blooms of their leaves and tied in delicate fern leaves in their place on one side, letting them frame the flowers on the bottom right side of the bouquet.

“Why the leaves on only one side?” Levi quirked an eyebrow up, watching Eren’s quick work.

“Are you kidding?” She muttered, cutting a stem. “If I put leaves around the entire bouquet it’ll look like a giant yellow cauliflower.” It was a simple bouquet, so Eren finished it fairly quickly, tying the ribbon into a diagonally positioned bow that draped lazily across the stems it covered. “There.”

“Thank you,” Levi pulled his wallet out of his pocket. “How much is it?”

It was Armin that stepped in this time. “Just take it, sir-...Levi. You’ve already paid more than enough extra from the banquet fee. Plus, we caused you a lot of trouble.” He glanced pointedly at Eren, who nodded his agreement.

Levi put away his wallet. “Thank you. I appreciate it.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading! As always, I'm on Tumblr as fairly-impolite-trousers and am tracking the tag fic: white clover if y'all wanna talk to me about it there!
> 
> BY THE WAY THANK YOU ALL FOR 1100 HITS?!?! HOW IS THIS REAL?
> 
> Don't forget to leave me a comment! I love hearing what you think!


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Weird family tension, JeanMarco, and Erwin fucking Smith.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, yeah, I'm definitely inspired to explore Eren and Mikasa more. Have this chapter, featuring ugly spring sweaters. 
> 
> Thanks as always to beta reader FreckledSkittles!

The cheerful clang of the bell hung on the door did absolutely nothing to soothe Eren’s nerves, and when Mikasa burst in on account of another phone call from Armin, she found Eren sprawled out on the wood floor, face down, and refusing to talk.

“Eren,” she started, dropping to her knees to get level with her sibling, “Armin called me. Are you alright?” Separate sets of blue and brown eyes searched worriedly in Eren’s teal. “What happened?”

“I’m just tired,” Eren lied, and Armin shot her a look.

“Customers were being rude,” Armin answered for her.. “She said-,” He cleared his throat, sitting up and staring at her shoes. “Y-You’re clearly a boy, Eren. That’s what she said.”

Mikasa looked back at Eren. “Is that true?”

“...Yeah.” Her voice was thick with memories from the past she couldn’t get out of her head, Petra’s words overlapping painfully with those of a certain brunette woman with amber eyes that caused Eren as much bitterness as she gave her love. “It’s just… when she said that, it sounded just like-...”

“Mom,” Mikasa murmured. Clearly, she remembered the reaction Carla had to Eren’s fluidity, remembered the butter stain from the dinner roll Eren’s mother had thrown at her as an initial reaction when she walked into the dining room in a dress for the first time. _You’re clearly a boy, Eren._

Mikasa pulled Eren into a tight hug, pulling her up to her knees. Armin gripped Eren’s hand for comfort while she buried her face in Mikasa’s scarf with little teary hiccups that left damp spots on the red fabric. Eren had never done well with trying to figure out what her mother thought of her, or whether she had ever really accepted her. Carla’s smile was always so light and infectious that Eren couldn’t tell if it was real. She had a sinking feeling once in a while that it never was. Not the smiles Carla meant for her, anyway.

But Mikasa always disagreed, always told Eren that Carla had loved her. Even when Eren had refused to see her mother in the hospital, Carla would tell the nurse about her with sparkling eyes and rambling words that struggled to find the right pronouns. While Mikasa gripped her hospital bed with white knuckles and silent tears, Carla would talk endlessly about Eren. “He doesn’t have to do really _huge_ things,” she would say, eyeing her vitals monitor with a soft smile. “Who says he has to be great? Just look at his-” She bit her lip, then continued, “her cute face. That face has already gone through so much. That’s enough for me. And I’m trying to accept Eren. I am. It’s just so foreign to me. You understand, don’t you, Mikasa?” And Mikasa would nod, would debate phoning said sibling, would debate asking Carla _what about me_ , and would then decide to not say anything except a quiet _yeah_. Carla would smile, with crinkles at the corners of her eyes, and grip Mikasa’s cold hand with her even colder fingers. Carla, unlike Eren’s father, had at least tried.

“Speaking of Mrs. Jaeger,” Armin spoke quietly, once Eren’s breathing had quieted, “Are we doing something for her death anniversary this year?”

“Periwinkles,” Eren said, her voice muffled. _Tender memories_. “I want her to have periwinkles.”

x-x-x

In the end, Petra had convinced Levi to take her to Shiganshina Cafe, next door to Little Rose, saying that she was worn out from being traumatized by Eren’s violence. It wasn’t like the raven didn’t understand: Petra was not one for fights. She did, however, give Levi a look when he showed up with the signature burlap around his bouquet.

“You got me flowers. From _Little Rose_.”

“Yes, is that a problem?” Levi raised an eyebrow, and swore inwardly when it caused his glasses to slip down slightly. He pushed them back up with a sigh, pressing the carnations into her arms. “Eren is a very talented floral designer. Besides, this makes us even. I gave you flowers from Little Rose, which, apparently, you now hate, and you caused a scene there, after which, you also made me cancel my dinner reservation to drag me into this dingy little cafe.”

“Fine.” She inspected the blooms closely. “ Carnations?”

“Mm.”

“They’re pretty. They remind me of sunshine, or something.” Levi had to smirk at that.

“I’m glad you like them.”

Petra frowned and took the flowers, bringing her lips centimeters from Levi’s in her own question. “Yeah. And I’m sorry your dinner plans got cancelled. It’s just that Nifa said Shiganshina Cafe was a nice place to check out. I didn’t realize you’d made reservations.”

What she received was a scowl, but forgiveness nonetheless as the raven-haired man placed a half-hearted kiss on her lips. “Whatever, we’ll just eat here.”  

The tall man who arrived to seat them grinned when he saw the bouquet of carnations in Petra’s arms, and glanced at Levi with a sniff. He backed away when Levi gave him a glare that clearly specified for the man not to come anywhere near him if he wanted to keep his limbs. After leading them to a small, round table, he placed a few chocolates on the table next to the little glass mason jar that held a single sunflower.

Levi furrowed his brow in confusion--chocolates before the menu comes out?--before realizing that they were chocolate coins, next to sunflowers. Sunflowers. _Counterfeit riches_. He snorted, and shook his head when Petra shot him a puzzled look. “It’s a shitty joke,” he explained, and refused to really explain any more, opting instead to take a long sip of water.

He was beginning to get a little impatient by the time someone came to their table, chuckling, with menus. Levi refused to make eye contact with whoever it was, crossing his arms. “Well, it’s about ti-...” The words died on his lips as he came face-to-ugly-knit-sweater with a hulking _tree_ of a man, with blond hair and cliche khakis and those _pretentious fucking eyebrows_ that were far too familiar for comfort. “You’ve got to be _shitting_ me right now.”

“Levi Ackerman.” Said blond man smiled wide. “Who would have guessed? You’re the ones that were getting into a fight with Eren from next door? She’s got quite a temper, you know. Shouldn’t mess with her.”

“Oh, please,” Levi scoffed with bravado. “You’re, what, over six damn feet and you’re scared of the brunette brat that works in a flower shop? And what’s with your ugly sweater and your librarian glasses? Classic fucking Erwin Smith.”

“You have _accountant glasses_. That’s even worse.”

“You two know each other?” Petra glanced between the blond and the raven with innocent confusion, and Erwin laughed, gripping Levi’s shoulder amiably with his hand. Levi glared daggers at said offensive hand.

“We were college roommates.”

“Ragako University.”

“Did you know that Levi used to clean the dorm bathrooms at three in the morning _by himself_?”

“Do you want to lose your arms, Captain Cuddlebrows?”

“Not particularly, no.”

“Anyway,” Levi sighed, opening his menu, “let’s order.” His eyes scanned the list until it stopped on a vegetable soup, which Erwin took down with some vague comment about Levi always being a light eater. Petra decided on a chicken pesto sandwich, and handed her menu back to Erwin with a polite smile. Levi barely caught the wink from Erwin before he disappeared into the kitchen.

x-x-x

Marco happened to quite like the small museum cafe Jean had recommended, and glanced back at the flowers he’d given the two-toned-haired man idly before Jean’s voice brought him back to attention.

“I dunno, this Eren chick sounds like a real asshat,” Jean commented idly, stirring his coffee. “I mean, I’ve never heard of a florist that yells at people and beats them up.”

“She hasn’t beaten anyone up for years, Jean,” Marco sighed, “She’s got a bit of a temper, but she only gets mad if she has a reason. She’s like a ray of sunshine once you meet her, I promise.”

Jean played with one of the tulips with his hand, admiring the sheer lavender hue. “Well, she’s got a good eye for flowers, I’ll give her that.”

“And she uses the language of flowers in everything she makes. You can’t find that nowadays.” Marco smiled, the apples of his cheeks dusted with a pink from the warmth of his drink and a smattering of freckles.

“Hah? The language of flowers? What’s that?” Jean quirked an eyebrow, looking up from his drink.

“Every flower has a meaning,” Marco explained, taking a sip of his coffee, “so you can send someone a message through the flowers you give them.” He was growing scarlet by the minute, and Jean could tell it wasn’t from the drink.

“So what was the one you gave me on Thursday?”

“Spireas. They mean _victory_. I was hoping they’d make your presentation go well.”

“And the one from the week before that?”

“Oh, those?” Lilacs. _The first emotions of love_. “I...I just thought they looked pretty in the display.”

Jean eyed Marco suspiciously, pulling up a search engine on his phone, and staring at his screen intently for a minute. “...Affection. That’s what it means?”

“Something like that, I guess.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading! You can find me on Tumblr at fairly-impolite-trousers, as always.
> 
> Don't forget to leave a comment, and I'll see you next time!


	5. Chapter 4.5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Something to tide you over. Ereri cute stuff :) It's not an actual full-length chapter, just a mini one with a scene snippet I wanted to show you.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So we've got a few more days before chapter 5 comes out, so have chapter 4.5-- your personal ereri flower fluff.
> 
> Enjoy!

It was literally minutes before Eren could finally close up shop when a somewhat familiar undercut slammed the door open, huffing and making a beeline for the counter where Eren stood. The brunette put her hands on her hips, scrunching up the grey fabric of her dress, rolling her eyes.

“I’m not sure how people treat you at Sina, Levi, but this is only the third time you’ve visited Little Rose and you’re already coming in like this is your personal bar. Are you even going to get flowers?”

“Yeah.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

Eren sighed and leaned on the back wall, gesturing half-heartedly around the store. “Pick your flowers, then. It’s the end of the day, so there isn’t much left, but I’m sure you’ll find something.”

“I have a date tonight.”

“I didn’t ask, but thanks for the information. Your flowers?”

“Red balsam.” Red balsam. _Don’t touch me._

“Red-...” Eren froze, turning back towards Levi, putting her scissors softly on the table. “Look, do you have a fucking death wish?”

“Excuse you?”

“I mean, not that I’m complaining, but do you even know what those mean?”

“Don’t flowers all mean the same thing?”

“And what would that be?”

“That I care enough to spend money to get something for that person.” Levi’s voice was muffled, his head wearily dropped in the crook on his elbow against the counter. “Is that a crime to you, Jaeger?”

“...No.”

“Then why can’t I get red balsams?”

Eren put her hands up in the air in defeat, shaking her head. “Look, you’re going to have to pick another flower regardless of what I think. Red balsams aren’t in season.”

“Well, shit.”

“I’ll just make you a bouquet with the flowers we’ve got left in stock. I’ve got…” She paused a moment to survey the buckets left out, and then took a few more seconds to peek in the industrial fridge. “How about crocuses?”

Crocuses. _Joy of youth._ Levi shrugged, nodding slightly and he looked up to watch Eren heft up the bucket and set it down next to her behind the counter. “Sure. They’re pretty.”

Teal eyes met cool grey ones after a few moments of Eren working mostly in silence, aside from a few audible snips of her scissors here and there. Eren studied Levi closely while she worked, observing the way his eyes darted in front of him, unfocused, as if he was trying to stare down both his palms at the same time. He noticed the way Levi’s eyelids would flutter shut for a few moments, sometimes, before Levi shook himself awake, the dark crescents under his eyes. He was undeniably stressed.

Glancing worriedly at the man, Eren walked into the fridge and searched around for a few second before she found the flowers she was looking for. Pulling the last one out of its bucket, she wrapped it individually, simply, adding only a cap at the end of the stem for water and a ‘ _Little Rose_ ’ tag tied to it. She put it to the side and finished up with the crocus bouquet, beautifully purple and studded here and there with some Queen Anne’s lace. _Fantasy._ When she was done, she rang up the order, and Levi jolted awake with the clang of the register. The raven-haired man slid his gaze over to the price the register displayed and pulled out a few bills, handing them to Eren. He was almost out the door when Eren grabbed him by the arm.

“Wait,” Eren blurted, turning him around. “I have something for you.” She took the flower she’d wrapped individually and put it in Levi’s hand. “I don’t know what’s bothering you, but…”

_Eren. He doesn’t know the language of flowers._

“But?” Levi looked puzzled.

“Just take it. It’s for you, not for Petra. It’s… never mind. Just drive safely. Good night.” Shaking her head quickly, Eren pushed Levi out of the shop with a gentle nudge and shut the door.

Levi watched Eren disappear into the back room before examining the flower he’d just received.

**Snowdrop. _Consolation and hope._**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading, as always! Find me on Tumblr at fairly-impolite-trousers, and expect chapter 5 on Levi's birthday :))
> 
> Don't forget to comment so I can talk with y'all, and I'll see you soon!


	6. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Crocus crowns and little shits.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We made it in time for Christmas! Happy birthday to our favorite grumpy captain, and a big big thank you to FreckledSkittles as always for an amazing beta read <3
> 
> Enjoy!

Armin chattered on the phone nervously, looking at the May calendar, fussing with the part of his bangs that hadn’t been pulled up into a ponytail, scribbling things on a notecard and mouthing flower names off to Eren. _Jonquils and orange roses. Desire and fascination._ Eren couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow, heading into the cooler to fetch what Armin had specified.

“Yes, no problem.” He checked the flowers in Eren’s arms with an approving nod, then glanced at the clock. “She…” He cast a questioning look at Eren, who shook his head. “ _He_ can make it there by lunchtime. Yes. Of course. Thank you!” He hung up the phone with a grin.

“What?” Eren held the flowers and leaves to his chest defensively.

“This is a vase arrangement to a certain Levi Ackerman, apparently, from a coworker named Hanji Zoe. It’s gotta be done and delivered in just under two hours from now. Think you can do it?” Armin brought over a wide vase that tapered to a narrow lip, painted a matte black and shaped sort of like a cone. He set it down carefully on the counter in front of Eren.

“Hell yeah, I can finish it by then.”

“Sweet.” Armin grinned, counting the flowers Eren had dumped on the counter to make sure they had the right amount: six blooms, in addition to a bud or two.

“So it’s for Levi?” Eren grabbed a pitcher of water and filled the vase.

“Yeah.”

“From Hanji, at Sina?”

“Yeah. You haven’t heard of him? He’s probably one of the smartest people at Sina. It was all that Sina employees talked about when he wasn’t given a higher position.”

“What is this, some kind of office soap opera?” Eren muttered to himself as he pulled out the scissors from the belt on his jeans, slicing the bamboo leaves he’d swiped from the cooler earlier expertly in long, narrow halves. “I swear, if Levi knew flower meanings he’d be in so much shit.”

“What do you mean?” Armin worked beside him, stripping the roses of their leaves and thorns. Eren had taught him how to do it, back when they had first opened the shop. Now, the work was second nature to him. He listened quietly to Eren, carefully snapping off the reddish thorns.

“Well, first of all,” Eren mumbled, sticking his tongue out in concentration while he bent the jonquil stems slightly to shape them, but not enough to break, “he keeps on sending his girlfriend horrible flowers.”

“I thought he only came in once, on the day he gave me the paycheck for the banquet.” Armin placed the last prepped rose next to the small pile of jonquils.

Eren used the leftover rose stems horizontally in the vase to section it off, making a framework to keep the flowers secure. “No, but he asked for yellow carnations that time, which sort of sends my point home. He came in again last week and asked for an _herb bouquet_ with _basil.”_ Basil. _Hate._ “Who even asks for an herb bouquet? I asked, but Levi didn’t know where Petra got the idea from. He just said something about her being really into Pinterest lately, so I doubt he knows the meanings of the shit he’s sending.”

Armin snorted. “Pinterest? That website Mike keeps going on about?”

“That’s the one. Fucking Pinterest.” Eren’s voice was borderline exasperated. “Somewhere in between those two he came in and asked for red balsam flowers, but those are out of season, thank _god,_ so I had to decline. Otherwise I would have had to ask Hannes to order them.”

“Red balsam. Right, they’re the ones that mean _don’t touch me._ ” Armin bit his lip, cringing at the thought of sending that message to a significant other.

“And then this Hanji person sends him jonquils and orange roses. That’s bullshit.” He slid the blooms into place, slightly off-center and in different lengths, to keep things interesting. He then grabbed the bamboo leaves, stapling them to the stems where they wouldn’t be visible. He pulled them up, out, and down again in loops that lurched out to the side. The bright colors and geometric edges of one side balanced out the unsteady, wild shapes in a solid green on the other.

“Well, I doubt Hanji understands flower meanings at all. He was mentioning that it was an apology for swamping Levi with work these past few weeks.” Armin had finished his part of the work and had gathered up the older flowers that they couldn’t sell, weaving them idly into a rough crown.

“Yeah, well, I guess we’ll figure that out, because this is done, and I’m going to go deliver it.”

“Mm. I’m going to use all the rest of the crocuses for this crown, by the way. They’re getting old.”

“Heh. Ironic.” Crocuses. _The joy of youth._  Eren grinned as he grabbed the crown from Armin’s fingers and put it on his own brown mop of hair. The blond did not protest.

“Be back in time for lunch, yeah? We’re decorating for Mrs. Jaeger for tomorrow.” Armin received a shriek of acknowledgement from Eren, already out the door. He started chuckling until Eren all but chucked the fragile vase into the basket of his bicycle(to Armin’s horror) and started pedaling as hard as he could. Sighing, he made a mental note to yell at him later.

The thing was, Hanji had requested the bouquet last minute, giving Eren and Armin less than an hour to throw everything together and deliver it to Levi. They would just barely make it, assuming Eren got there on time. By Armin’s description, Hanji seemed quite scatterbrained, but he was kind, and he liked Eren’s work enough to order it, so Eren didn’t mind.

Bursting through the Sina doors with dangerously little air in his system, Eren managed to pant his way across the marble-tiled lobby where he felt completely out of place. The blonde sitting at the counter boredly threw a glance his way, first eyeing his hair full of purple crocuses with a raised eyebrow.

“Welcome to Sina Financial. Can I help you?” Her voice was monotone, and Eren had to respect her complete lack of a friendly facade, despite her being at the reception counter.

“Yeah, I’m here to give flowers to Levi.”

Both eyebrows went up this time. “To Mr. Ackerman?”

“That’s the one.”

The blonde-- _Annie,_ her nameplate read-- looked him up and down, clearly unimpressed. “I’ll have to check with Mr. Ackerman to see if you’ve scheduled an appointment.”

“Sure, that’s fine. I just really need to see him.”

“Name?”

“Eren Jaeger.”

Annie shot him an incredulous look before going to the telephone. Eren really couldn’t blame her. He was dressed like a teenager that just walked out of some hipster clothing store, and he was insisting on meeting the top of the entire financing branch of Sina Financial. He watched closely at Annie’s stoic face, a small grin dancing across his lips when Annie’s eyes widened and she hung up the phone with a quiet “yes, sir.”

“So?”  
She looked defeated. “8th floor, the first door on your right.”

Eren thought about saying something snarky, he really did, but the pulse of the watch on his wrist reminded him that he was not in a situation to make small talk. When Hanji said to deliver the arrangement by lunch, he really meant that Eren should deliver the flowers before that and check in with Hanji to collect the payment by lunch. Quite frankly, Eren was nearly out of time.

 

x-x-x

“Jaeger? Yeah, let the kid in.” Levi frowned; he hadn’t ordered any flowers from Little Rose. The time passed by slowly as he sat back in his chair, staring at his office door. He had just given up and gone back to his work when the door slammed open, and Eren came and went in a flurry of brown hair and--were those _crocuses?--_ navy hoodie, leaving an elegant arrangement of flowers and disappearing words that sounded vaguely like _I hope you like them._

It took Levi a few seconds before the meaning of the type of flowers Eren had given him set in, and he stared at the jonquils, and then at the orange roses, with wide eyes and his jaw slightly fallen open.

 _Desire?_ And _fascination?_

Eyeing the flowers suspiciously, he logged on to the company client and clicked on the little green dot next to Petra’s name.

 **Levi Ackerman :** **Did you get me flowers?**

 **Petra Ral :** **No, why?**

 **Levi Ackerman :** **Never mind, forget I said anything.**

 **Petra Ral :** **Levi, what’s this about?**

He didn’t respond, simply clicked the button next to Annie’s name and typed quickly.

 **Levi Ackerman :** **Leaving office for a little bit.**

 **Annie Leonhardt :** **yessir**

 _Hunting_ would have been a rather accurate term to describe how Levi was combing through the offices in search for the floral designer, and while he didn’t specify who he was looking for to anyone, he could have sworn he heard a few employees praying for the poor victim’s soul. He was exasperated by the time he made it to Hanji’s office, and the other man pranced to Levi with a faint smile playing on his lips.

“Can I help you, Ravioli?”

“Have you seen a guy with a flower crown pass by here?”

“Eren?”

Levi’s eyes narrowed considerably. “How did you know his name was-”

“That’s not important right now, though, is it? Last I saw, he was headed towards the elevators.”

The raven-haired man really couldn’t say anything as he grumbled his way out into the hallway, but his mumbling stopped when he caught sight of fluffy brown locks and purple petals. He ran to catch up with Eren, grabbing him by the shoulder. “Eren.”

Eren turned around, and his eyes brightened when he caught sight of the shorter man. “Oh, Levi!”

“You left flowers on my desk.”

Eren furrowed his eyebrows, clearly confused. “Yeah, those are for you.”

“For me? You made that for me?”

The brunet grinned, showing his teeth proudly. “Yeah. You like it? It’s sort of Zen-inspired. Did you see the geometry on the right side? And the shapes I made with the bamboo leaves?”

Eren would have continued to ask questions, but he was cut off by Levi pulling him into a tight hug. “Thank you,” the older man mumbled into Eren’s shoulder. “Thank you.”

To tell the truth, Levi was not used to the kind of thoughtfulness Eren showed in everything that he did. Maybe he had, at one time in his life. Perhaps with Kuchel. But not since Kenny, not since he was passed over from relative to relative, not since he started throwing birthday celebrations for himself with the leftover candles from the Christmas cake shoved into a tangerine. As far as Levi knew, Eren had no reason to give him flowers, and yet there he was, crocus crown, hoodie, and all. He took in a shaky breath.

“Can I ask you a question, Eren?”

“Sure.”

“Why’d you decide on those flowers?”

Eren had initially stiffened when Levi enveloped him into the hug, but had eventually returned the embrace awkwardly, laughing in between nervous little clusters of syllables. “Y-Yeah, that’s what I thought, too. And I would have said something, but Hanji absolutely needed them delivered by lunch, so we didn’t have time to negotiate. I-I was joking with Armin about how it seemed like a soap opera-”

Levi pulled away suddenly, like he’d been shocked with static. “...Hanji?”

Eren nodded. “He ordered them. Something about an apology for swamping you with work and shit.”

“...I see.”

“I hope you like it, though.”

“Yeah. Look, I-... I have to go.”

Eren immediately noticed the shift in Levi’s demeanor, saw his mask clatter to the floor and then swing back up onto his face in seconds. “Hm? Why? What’s wrong?” When Levi turned on his heel, he tried again. “Did I say something weird? Levi! Hey!”

But Levi was already halfway down the hall.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading, and I'll see you all real soon! You can find me on Tumblr at fairly-impolite-trousers (as always) if there's anything!
> 
> Don't forget to comment so we can talk <3


	7. I've given up on trying to keep these numbered

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A little scene to tide y'all over. It's very, very, very short.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello hello! I'm sorry for disappearing on you all, I'm been a little busy being on a trip and then finishing translating manga. I hope you can forgive me.
> 
> While I don't have a full chapter written yet, I did write a little scene between Hanji and Levi, that hopefully does a little bit in introducing their dynamic. 
> 
> This one is completely and utterly un-beta'd because I wrote it without wifi and forgot to share it. So firstly I need to apologize in case there's awkwardness/typos. I'm a little clumsy when it comes to writing.
> 
> Anyway, here you go!

Mortification was the word that best described Levi, with his head buried in his arms on his desk with a loud, frustrated groan. It was bad enough that he thought the flowers were from Eren, and on top of that he had pulled the younger brunet into a bone-crushing hug.

 

Levi didn’t even like to touch people.

 

The knock from Hanji outside was unwelcome, if not infuriating, but it was probably the only thing that Levi would pay attention to. No one else would knock without first checking in with Annie. Levi sighed and raised his head. “It’s open.”

 

The tension between the two former schoolmates was palpable, but one sided. If Hanji didn’t notice the slight tightening of Levi’s jaw when he entered, he said nothing. It wasn’t that Levi disliked Hanji in any way. Hanji was simply more suited to sit where Levi sat currently-- held himself better and had the credentials that Levi could never put under his belt. The fact that Hanji was Levi’s subordinate was strangely frustrating.

 

The brunet grinned as he walked into the office as he always did. “Did you like my flowers?”

 

Levi gripped his pen a little tighter, the ballpoint he had received from Erwin upon his college graduation. “Let’s talk about something besides that. Better yet, let’s not talk at all. I’m busy.”

 

“Why? What happened?” Hanji moved to take one of the green leaves hanging off the vase in his hand. “Ooh, the arrangement _is_ nice. I didn’t realize Eren included bamboo.”

 

“Hanji, I’m serious. If you’re not here to help me crunch numbers, then get out.”

 

Hanji gave Levi a long look before settling himself on the edge of the latter’s desk. He ignored Levi’s scowl and snatched the stack of papers Levi was trying to bury his face in out of reach. “Levi.”

 

“ _Hanji.”_ The tone Levi used was the one he used when he was in a particularly bad mood, and Levi’s mood today was decidedly foul.

 

“This is about Eren?”

 

“This has nothing to do with Eren.”

 

“What happened?”

 

Stabbing his pen violently into the clear plastic covering his desk, Levi sighed. “He came, he plonked down the flowers, and dashed out with that stupid flower crown. Do you _know_ what those flowers mean, Hanji?”

 

The brunet looked up at the ceiling, swinging his legs and answering Levi’s question with a shake of his head. “Enlighten me.”

 

“ _Desire_ and _fascination_.” The sound Levi made next was akin to that of a controlled scream into his sleeve.

 

“You thought,” Hanji began once the other had raised his head, pausing briefly to check Levi’s expression, “you thought he gave you those flowers of his own accord. You thought he _wanted_ you.”

 

Levi glared at the taller man perched on his desk, his words clipped and harsh. “I didn’t.”

 

Hanji’s look was incredulous. “You did, or else you wouldn’t be upset.”

 

The hand that slammed down on the desk after that was full of a simmering anger that even the lanky brunet didn’t want to disturb. Levi’s gaze was unsteady and barely kept together, a stormy dark grey that Hanji met as evenly as he could. “Why do you try to analyze everything?”

 

“Why are you so defensive about it?”

 

“I’m not.”

 

Sharp brown eyes met dangerously narrowed grey. Hanji slid off of the desk, stopping only once he reached the doorway. “You like him.”

 

“No, I don’t.”

 

“I’ve never seen you as mellow as you’ve been this past month and a half.” Hanji faced away from Levi, ready to leave. “I think he likes you, you know.”

 

“I barely know him.” Levi looked down, suddenly finding the wood grain of his desk particularly interesting. “And I have Petra.”

 

“You don’t love Petra.” 

 

Levi didn’t even look up as he transferred data into a spreadsheet. “There’s a lot riding on my relationship with Petra.”

 

“Like what?”

 

“That’s none of your concern.”

 

Hanji chuckled as he brought up one hand to wave his goodbye, his fingers catching the wood of the doorway briefly so Levi could hear his words as he left. “You’re dirty, Levi. You’re dirty. I hope you know that.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there it is. It's a very very short.
> 
> Thanks for reading! You can find me lurking on Tumblr, as always, and @ FreckledSkittles--I'm working on trying to get the next chapter written ^^;;
> 
> Don't forget to comment and I'll see you all really soon!


	8. This is part one of this chapter--second part comes after.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> where family angst shows up. Just a little.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lmao i thought this chapter was gonna have ereri but then it didn't
> 
> thanks to editor/beta FreckledSkittles, happy almost-Valentines. You're real cute.
> 
> sorry for the long wait--i've been v v busy. And these aren't pre-written so even more so.

“ _ Jesus,  _ Eren, I thought you were running a flower shop, not an Italian restaurant. I needed to make a order  for next week’s flowers.” 

“That’s just how the shop smells right now.”

“No one’s store just randomly  _ reeks  _ of rosemary.” Mike strolled in with his nose scrunched, followed closely by Erwin, who was trying desperately not to laugh at the sight. “Where-... _ oh.  _ That would explain it.” 

The white metal arch that framed the window display was wreathed loosely in woven stems of rosemary, with its delicate purple flowers peeking out shyly from amid dark green leaves. Rosemary. _ Remembrance _ . A simple white ceramic vase sat on a tall stand underneath the arch, holding a puff of periwinkles.  _ Tender memories.  _ On the counter nearest Eren lay a small, simple bouquet of pink carnations and zinnias in a clear glass vase. 

Zinnias.  _ I miss you. _

“They’re pretty,” commented Erwin, nodding at the blooms with a smile. “An order for someone?” He reached out to feel the velvety-soft petals of the carnation, rubbing them between the pads of his fingers gently until Eren slapped his hand away. Pink carnations.  _ I will never forget you. _

“No touching,” the brunet warned. “They’re not an order, though. Just decided to decorate the store a bit.”

“Oh, so something good happened. What kind of celebratory-... Are those fucking  _ Yankee candles?”  _ Mike cut himself off mid-sentence to scowl at the glass jars of wax placed strategically on the shelf behind Eren.

Eren nodded. “In case of a power outage. You know how it is in this block when storms come around. Plus, they smell nice.”

Mike’s expression was deadly serious as a concerned Erwin tried fruitlessly to get his attention. “If you like Yankee candles then we seriously can’t be friends. First of all, they smell like cat litter. Secondly, did you even  _ read  _ the Pinterest post I linked you to about the dangers of wax in commercia-”

“Mike.”

“Erwin.”

“So, are you two planning on buying anything, or no?” Armin had a playful smile on his face, leaning against the doorway leading to the back room, one hand firmly on the hip that was jutting out.

Erwin chuckled, shaking his head. “Always the businessman, Armin. You sure you don’t want to come over and help us boom business over at the cafe? We’ll give you 150% of your salary.” It was in jest, of course; anyone could tell by the way Erwin waggled his thick eyebrows.

“Well,” Armin pretended to consider the offer, “fill the entire shelf behind your cash register with pots of Yankee candles, and I’ll go just to see Mike suffer.”

“Oh, come on, you guys.” The exasperated groan by both Mike and Eren only caused the two to start laughing. The atmosphere of Little Rose was a cheerful one, even if Eren seemed a little more subdued than usual. He nodded, gesturing for Erwin to leave the note for his order on the counter. Little Rose was the one that usually supplied the flowers for Shiganshina Cafe, even the sunflowers. (The joke Levi had laughed at was also Eren’s doing.)

The doorbell jingled, and the four turned to see Marco, waving frantically and trying to get the door open. Eren laughed and opened it for him.

“Thanks,” Marco panted out. The flush that had spread across his cheeks brought out small clusters of freckles Eren hadn’t noticed before. “That thing sticks.”

“It does,” Eren agreed. “We should get it fixed.”

“Looks nice in here. Someone’s birthday or something?”

“Something like that.” Eren felt Mikasa’s eyes boring into him from the delivery truck outside, where she was unloading the new shipments of flowers now that the summer season was coming along. “Well-... Yeah, something like that.”

Marco gave him an odd look, but turned to Armin. “Hey, Armin. Can I place an order? After... “ He gestured to Mike and Erwin, who nodded in return. “After you, of course.”

“Yeah.” Armin looked at Eren, who waved Marco over. “Eren can just jot down your order now while I take care of these two.”

“Oh, okay.” Marco joined Eren on the other side of the long counter, and pointed out the white camellias.  _ Adoration.  _ “Those.”

Eren raised his eyebrows gleefully, remembering when Marco had initially rejected the flowers. “You’re lucky. We’re starting with summer flowers starting with the new shipments today. These are our last camellias. You think Jean is that adorable, huh?”

Marco flushed a darker scarlet than he already was, and Eren snickered at how the color danced down his neck as well. His strategy had been going quite well--Jean hadn’t refused a “date” or given back any flowers yet, and the hopefulness in Marco’s eyes shone, despite his efforts.

Eren snickered and tacked a sticky note to the shelf behind him. “I can have it done before--... When did you say you needed it by?”

“I didn’t say when yet, Eren.” Marco sighed, exhaling his air in an amused little puff. “But I’m meeting him at seven tonight. Can I drop by right before closing to pick it up?”

Eren responded with a toothy grin and a thumbs-up. Turning back to the note, he scrawled the name “Freckled Jesus” on the post-it with a pencil and tucked the latter back behind his ear. He waved amiably at the retreating cluster of scarf and olive freckled skin, and sighed as he looked back across at the flowers on the counter.

Carla Jaeger had been on Eren’s mind since that morning, when they’d touched up the final details on the window display to mourn her death anniversary. And as Erwin and Mike also left to take care of Shiganshina Cafe, the air in Little Rose sank with a heaviness that was ignored for far too long. Even Hannes, who usually cracked a joke as he busted through the door, did nothing but give a slight nod in the direction of the rosemary, set down the flower shipments, and murmur something about “mighty fine parenting” as he shuffled out the door. 

Mikasa sat down once she had dropped her boxes on the counter, while Eren stared back at her, tense and closed off. They knew what was coming, they all knew what was coming--the conversations about Carla that they buried during the rest of the year, only to dig them up along with the rest of her memories they had left behind on the day her heart stopped.

Armin knew which words Eren was dreading, and his expression dropped when they were the first ones to tumble out of Mikasa’s mouth.

“She would have liked to see you, you know.”

Eren scoffed, inspecting his fingernails, and it was all Armin could do to look on silently.

“Mikasa, I don’t want to have this conversation. Not right now.”

“Then when?” Her voice was steady, as if she had done this a million times before. “You always change the subject. Eren, she was  _ trying _ to understand, at least. That’s better than Dad, isn’t it? You were all she talked about while she was-”

“Hooked up to the monitor, rambling on and on about her perfect son? I’ve heard it before.” Eren’s eyes were blank, now, staring forward and glassed over as he shut himself down. “I get that you were there and I wasn’t, okay? I get it. She loved you, the perfect daughter, and you took care of her. End of story. Thanks for reminding me, again, that I was a shitty kid.”

“She loved you so much more than she loved me,” Mikasa muttered under her breath. Her tone was becoming edged with every word. “I washed her hair, held her hand, spent  _ weeks on end  _ in the hospital, and you were all she knew: her proud, successful, biological son. Can’t you feel a little bit for me, for once in your god damn life, Eren?”

Eren’s hands came down on the table with a loud slam, and his eyes were dark when he looked at his sister. “Would you shut the fuck up? You know nothing about my relationship with Carla.”

“I know everything there is to know about your relationship with Mom. I lived with you, for fuck’s s-”

“Then you would have remembered her throwing a fucking  _ dinner roll  _ at me right in front of her dinner guests! You always say that it was just shock, but Mikasa, it hit. Right. Here.” Eren pulled his shirt forward and jabbed at a location close to his heart. “And it left a  _ stain. _ How fucking hard do you think a roll has to be thrown for it to leave an oil stain? How much do you think that hurts? Here, I’ll give the answer to you.”

He stalked around the counter and promptly slapped Mikasa across the face, his other hand grasping at his pant leg. 

“Does it sting? Huh? Well, let me tell you--it hurt ten, a hundred, a  _ thousand  _ times more than what I did to you just now, because Carla looked at me like I was a fucking  _ monster.  _ And everyone at the table looked like they agreed.” Mikasa opened her mouth to retort, but Eren cut her off. “And you fucking  _ sat  _ there, like a wilted piece of  _ shit,  _ without saying so much as a fucking  _ word.  _ Don’t even  _ try  _ to defend yourself.”

Mikasa shot a look at Eren, and then at Armin. It was filled with hopelessness, frustration, confusion, and anger, all rolled up into ebony pools of emotion that weren’t easy to place. 

“You might be hurt, Eren, but she’s  _ dead.  _ Don’t you ever  _ dare  _ forget that.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!
> 
> Find me on Tumblr, as always. 
> 
> Don't forget to comment and I'll see you next time!


	9. Apparently chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You thought this was the end of the angst? WRONG.
> 
> Feat. Levi's horrible taste in tie fashion and Jaeger family hugs, also Sassmin to the extreme.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> !!! Hello everyone! I have finally finished writing this. I actually entertained a couple different versions of the chapter and ended up with this one, which is why it took me a while to solidify what I wanted for it. Sorry about that.
> 
> It boggles my mind that people are actually reading and re-reading White Clover, and that we have 4600 hits??? You guys ???? Oh my god???? Anywho, thanks for always coming on back and continuing to leave feedback. I like hearing what's going through your mind when you read the chapters, regardless of whether it's a positive or negative thought.
> 
> Thanks as always to FreckledSkittles for being grammar q u e e n and best beta reader/editor/everything.
> 
> Someone teach Levi how to fashion.

Eren would have said something back to Mikasa, something about how being dead had absolutely  _ nothing  _ to do with Carla herself, but he was forced to direct his attention to Levi, who had walked in with a wrinkled nose, not unlike what Mike had looked like when he first walked in. The brunet opened his mouth to say something about the rosemary, but Levi took in the other flora decked around the shop and stuck his hands in his pockets. 

“Who died?” He was staring straight at Eren.

The florist fidgeted with the scissors in his belt holder, swallowing thickly before his response. “Er, my mother.” A beat passed before Eren looked up with furrowed eyebrows, pulling out his scissors and pointing them accusingly at Levi. “Wait, how did you figure out-...” Another beat. “...The flowers.”

“I thought you didn’t know flower meanings,  _ Levi. _ ” The words came from Armin, who, inspecting a packet of wires closely, finally felt the need to try and dissolve the tension that was still in the room by bringing attention to the raven-haired man. “Lying isn’t a very good thing to do, you know.” 

Eren cast a glance at Armin, and while  _ yes,  _ that was exactly what he was thinking, his eyes couldn’t do anything but focus on the bandage on the blond’s thumb.  _ When had he done that?  _

“I never said I didn’t know them,” Levi retorted, and Armin narrowed his eyes, turning on his heel and grabbing Mikasa with him as he stalked to the back room. Eren noticed the  _ this isn’t over  _ that was mouthed harshly from Armin in his direction, and followed the duo with his eyes, but the door was thick enough that Eren wouldn’t be able to hear any kind of conversation, even if he strained, so he gave up with a soft sigh before turning back to the Sina manager. And then he waited, drummed his fingers on the counter for a good minute before Levi seemed capable of speech again.

“I’m here to order flowers,” Levi explained, finally, tugging at his god-awful striped tie. Eren stuck his hand in his jean pockets and rounded the corner of the counter, leaning on the surface and jutting one hip out, not that Levi could see.

“For the lady,” Eren commented lamely. He shook himself out of his mood to take mental note of all of the flowers with the absolute  _ worst _ meanings that he had stocked in inventory before he stopped short, pulling his posture back up to furrow his eyebrows at the shorter man. “Levi, I have a question.” He eyed the raven’s deadpan before stuttering out the last part, which felt foreign on his tongue. “If I may.”

“You may.” The response was clipped.

Eren averted his gaze and started unrolling a spool of silver ribbon. By this time, he knew how Levi liked his bouquets to look: elegant and simple, yet luxurious in small ways that would only catch the eye if one looked closely. He played with the shape of the satin before clearing his throat. “Why give Petra the types of flowers you do, if you know what they mean?”

He knew he was inviting talk as if Little Rose was Levi’s personal bar, but it was late and he was craving a distraction anyway, so he’d play bartender if he got the answer to the puzzle that Levi Ackerman was. Said enigma sighed and sat down on one of the stools pulled up against the counter, resting his elbows next to Eren’s package of wire. His eyes lingered on the dried stems of the silver dollar,  _ honesty, _ before landing on a much safer choice in his logic: mustard flowers.  _ Hurt.  _

“Okay, what’s going on between you two?” Eren curled the fabric of the silver ribbon expertly while giving Levi a concerned look. “Look, if you hate Petra that much, why not just break it off?”  
“I’m suffering because I can’t, you asshole,” was Levi’s sharp reply, and Eren shot the older man a quick glare before bundling the mustard with the silver dollar pods, the two plants he had observed Levi eyeing, and starting to arrange them before he could protest.

“...What the fuck kind of bouquet is that?”

“ _ Levi-” _

“Do it over.”

It could have been that Eren was still angry about his confrontation with Mikasa, or it could have been that Levi was just temperamental and picky. Either way, Eren’s design ideas were rejected three times before the two came up with a bouquet they were both satisfied with.

“So.” Eren’s voice finally broke the silence that began when he started snipping the mustard. “Talk to me.”

Levi made a noise that sounded vaguely like a growl as he watched Eren work. “Look, I didn’t hate her when I asked her out initially.”

“I would hope not. That would just be cruel.”

“I thought, well, she was nice.” He sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. “I came in to the company with credentials, sure, but most of my subordinates were much older than me. I applied with Hanji, originally. You know him.” He looked up to see Eren nod, then continued. “We were together in graduate school. Hanji’s a genius, Jaeger. We all thought he’d get a management position almost right off the bat.”

Eren hummed in thought, cutting the mustard in angles that would show off the yellow petals best. “What does Hanji have to do with Petra?”

“I’m getting there. So a lot of the duds in the departments--the ones that wanted promotions but weren’t decent enough to pull their weight--spent a lot of time and money on kissing up to Hanji.” Levi paused, looked to Eren.

The teal-eyed man murmured, following the thought. “But you were the one that got the position.”

“Hanji ended up being in a different department, but when we collaborate on events and projects, he’s still my subordinate. Meanwhile, I fired the duds and completely changed the way Sina works. In my department, anyway. I know a lot of people who still aren’t fond of me because of that, actually. But my first few months were  _ hell,  _ Jaeger. And Hanji was busy in  _ his  _ branch, so we didn’t talk much.” Levi chuckled softly to himself, and Eren couldn’t for the life of him point out what was so funny about his words. So he just pursed his lips, listening to Levi talk while he adjusted the lengths of the stalks of silver dollars and snipped the rough ends. 

Levi continued once his chuckle had subsided, and Eren noticed how he fiddled with his hands, kept his eyes trained on them while he talked. “Petra was in my team, then. She was really friendly, and, hell, I was probably just lonely and bored out of my  _ mind _ , but we started talking.” Eren watched Levi’s eyes close as he lost himself in reminiscing. “She would give me these little, oh, what the fuck were they? She’d give me these sweets when we were doing overtime, into ungodly hours of the morning, because of some shitty project that wasn’t even supposed to be our responsibility in the first place. She was genuine, and that was really important to me back then.” 

The bouquet Levi had requested was rather small, and, having finished it, Eren wrapped it in burlap and tagged it with the store name before setting it off to the side and pulling the post-it for Marco’s order off the shelf edge behind him. He stuck the adhesive on the counter and prompted Levi to speak. “Go on.”

“But somewhere along the way, I just didn’t feel anything anymore. Sure, she was kind, and she was gorgeous, and the sex was great, but I couldn’t love her. She lied to me.”

“Lied?” Eren raised an eyebrow, looking up from where he had tossed a small glass container, a ti leaf, a bag full of fuchsia blooms, camellias, and an oasis sponge on the counter. 

“Petra... was well-known, apparently. For throwing herself at every bachelor in the Sina who was either making good money or had a high place in Sina. For using them and throwing them away like chew toys if they didn’t comply. Eren, everyone I talked to told me to stay away from Petra, and I didn’t believe them. She caught me when I was vulnerable.”

“What did she want from you?”

“The money, the stock shares, Jaeger. She still does.” Levi ran his hand through his hair. “Control over the entirety of Sina Financial is all Petra cares about. She doesn’t give a shit about my feelings, I’ll bet. And she knows I’m aware, if our arguments about my finances are anything to go by.”

“Jesus, what a bitch. Why not separate, if she’s using you and you both know it?” Eren selected the most vibrant fuchsias he had from a bag and lay them out on the counter. He started gluing pearly rhinestones to the heart of each bloom with a thin needle. Marco’s order was more of a small table decoration than a bouquet, or at least that’s what Eren guessed from the vague hand gestures Marco had supplied him with, and Eren guessed it was for a dinner at home. He trimmed the camellias to the right length, taking care to make sure the weight wasn’t too focused on one side. The camellias would be the focal point of the arrangement, but the pearly surface of the rhinestones would reflect whatever light was shining on the small cluster of fuchsias to give off a soft, ambient glow. Fuchsias.  _ Humble love.  _ “Why not just tell her how you feel?”

“Her dad contacted me, Eren. He’s one of the directors in Sina with the highest influence.” Levi winced, visibly, and dropped his head forward. “I wouldn’t be surprised if he could crash the whole company with one well-timed phone call. I’m one of the ‘most eligible he’s dealt with so far.’ He told me that Petra agrees. She wants to marry me, sometime in the near future. Long story short, I have two options: stay with Petra and get catapulted to the board of directors, or leave her, lose my job, and have my reputation ruined. I’d rather use and be used than lose stability where I am now.”

Eren sighed, stapling together rings of ti leaves which he pressed into the edges of the shallow vase. “Well, I don’t really get it, but okay. Still seems like a shitty deal to me. You’re hurting each other.”

“Like you’ve never hurt someone before.” Levi’s voice was wearied.

Eren cast a tentative glance towards the back room, but Armin and Mikasa were still out of sight. He looked back at Levi, who had one of his hands rubbing tiredly at his right temple, and decided to keep his mouth closed rather than retort. Instead, he slid the small bundle of mustards and silver dollars over to Levi, and if Levi looked hard enough, he would see Eren’s gaze at the cash register was unfocused. “Fifteen.” Eren’s voice was soft and small.

Placing two bills on the counter and letting his hand rest there for a second before putting his wallet back in his pocket, Levi gave the younger man a tight-lipped smile, swiping the cheery yellow bouquet that contrasted so much with the heavy fatigue that seemed to weigh down on the both of them. 

“...Thanks, Eren.”

“Anytime.”

It wasn’t until the door had jingled shut and a few moments had passed that Eren heard the steady clunking of Armin’s boots and the soft shuffling of Mikasa’s canvas shoes. Eren sighed, turned around, blinked at Armin with an exhausted, sleepy gaze. “Hi, Armin.”

Armin watched Eren for several long seconds before stepping aside so that Eren and Mikasa were facing each other. His eyes were stern, but his voice was soft. “I believe you two have some words to exchange.”

“Armin-”

“Eren. I’m not about to watch my two best friends drag out an argument that can be resolved tonight. Mikasa, stop rolling your eyes. You’re not blameless here, either.”

“I don’t want to talk to her.”

“I don’t want to talk to him.”

Armin’s jaw worked furiously, then, and both siblings flinched when the blond’s hand came down hard onto one of the stools. “You think I wanna stand here and watch while you,” he glared pointedly at Eren, “slap the shit out of the woman who’s worked herself to the bone and then completely invalidate Mikasa by devaluing Mrs. Jaeger, and you,” he looked over at Mikasa, “disregard everything your family’s been saying and bring Eren to his absolute breaking point because you want to be  _ pitied?  _ Are you fucking kidding me? Today is Mrs. Jaeger’s death anniversary; it blows my mind that you two want to spend it acting like your own family is the scum of the earth instead of actually facing each other’s feelings. I spent twenty-three grueling years with you two,” he continued on, hissing out words in a vicious way that Eren and Mikasa had forgotten was possible for Armin.  “Mrs. Jaeger was the mother I never had, and I miss her just as much. So let me be selfish here: I would rather you two not be incorrigible pieces of  _ dog shit  _ on a day when we should be paying our respects.” 

The room was silent for longer than was comfortable, and Eren breathed out a defeated sigh before raising his head to meet Mikasa’s eyes. But then, he couldn’t. His gaze dropped down to her hands. They were clenched, exactly like how he remembered they were under the dining table when Carla had thrown bread at him. The brunet bit his lip and furrowed his brow. “Look, Mikasa. I know Car-...” His eyes darted up to Mikasa face, and the word died on his tongue when he saw her expression. “...I know she probably loved me a lot.”

“She did.”

“And I know it hit her hard.”

“I wasn’t great timing. You told her the week after-”

“Her diagnosis. I  _ know.  _  I could tell she was trying really hard to get everything figured out even though she was shocked. Trust me. And...and I know it must have been hard on her. I mean, I can move on, somewhat, at least, but she died thinking her kid hated her, and I…” He took a shaky breath, and he closed his eyes slowly. “I’m sorry I made her feel like that. But I’m hurting too. A whole lot. You get that, right?”

“Do you resent her?” Mikasa’s eyes held Eren’s for a moment.

“Do I resent her? I just might, you know. It’s going to take a while longer for me to forgive her.”

Mikasa was quiet. She listened to Eren with her head down, nodding.

“Also,” Eren said finally, “I’m sorry.” He brought his hand up to pull her face up, brushing the pads of his fingers over the places of her cheek that were an angry red, grimacing when he realized the skin was still hot to the touch. “About this.” 

“I’m sorry,” Mikasa blurted out, and her lips pressed shut while she hesitated to speak again. It seemed like she hadn’t much to say, because her words were halting and shaky. “I’m sorry, too. I just… I miss her.”

Apologetic was an adjective that both Eren and Armin would rarely use for Mikasa, and Eren watched her with glistening eyes. He pulled her in with one fluid motion to bury his chin in her shoulder, to breathe in the smell of her fabric and to maybe feel a bit more secure. “I know you do.”

Mikasa wrapped her arms around Eren’s neck with soft sniffles that grew into short, suppressed sobs that were punctuated with sharp inhalations that sounded almost painful. These were sobs that both Eren and Armin recognized-- these were sobs meant for Carla Jaeger and Carla Jaeger alone. These were the sobs that Eren heard from inside his mother’s hospital room, mangled with Armin’s frustrated attempts to steady his breathing and comfort Mikasa at the same time. These were the sobs that Eren stopped for in a hospital hallway, only to resume walking again with clenched fists stuffed in his pockets because his mother was dead and his family was heartbroken, but there was nothing he could do. These were sobs that Armin associated with cold blue sheets and Mikasa’s desperate prayers that echoed through the room in the dead of night when she thought everyone was asleep.

And the tears that rolled down all of their faces as they saw eye to eye for the first time since Carla’s death; well, those were only human.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading! 
> 
> You can find me on Tumblr, as always.
> 
> Don't forget to leave a comment, and I'll see you next time!


	10. cute

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Too tired and too lazy to flesh out actual plot, so here, have some things.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry I've been so dead T.T but I just finished finals and so hopefully I will have more time to write! I'm also using White Clover as my July Nanocamp project, so that will probably help. 
> 
> Many many thanks to all of you for continuing to read despite how shitty my writing gets. I'm pretty sure I replied to every comment I got last time, but if I missed one of you, feel free to yell at me.

“Did you pick up the order?”

“Do you see any flowers, anywhere at all?”

“Well, no-”

Erwin sighed, and he sat down heavily at one of the tables on the side of the cafe. After hours, the establishment was quiet, peaceful, save for the occasional sound of the dishes being washed by Connie coming from the kitchen. Erwin had strolled over to Little Rose, earlier, maybe five minutes ago, but when he heard Armin’s raised voice coming from inside, he’d strolled right back. “I think...I think something’s up with them. So, no. Right now would not be a good time to pick up the order.” 

“What do you mean, something’s up?” Mike furrowed his eyebrows, leaning back in the seat placed across from Erwin’s. “Was Eren yelling at someone?”

“No, Armin was yelling. I didn’t stay long enough to figure out what it was about.”

Mike gave a surprised little sound in the back of his throat, but otherwise, he didn’t move. “Armin? That’s odd.”

“You’re telling me.” Erwin’s lips pulled back just enough to show a bit of his teeth in a small smile.

“Well, whatever. We can pick them up tomorrow.”

“Mm.”

Erwin leaned forward to brush his lips over the tender part of Mike’s temple, but he stopped when Connie’s unexpected sigh from the kitchen interrupted his movement. The two men glanced in the direction of the kitchen with a knowing stare. 

Erwin tried again to kiss Mike on the forehead.

Another sigh.

Mike chuckled and pushed back his chair far enough for it to lean treacherously on one leg, and hollered into the kitchen. “Connie, come on out here. You’re gonna sigh your lungs out.”

“I’ve never heard anyone use that phrase,” muttered Erwin.

“It’s a thing,” Mike retorted, quickly, before Connie came shuffling out of the kitchen with foam on his cheek. “Connie, I can probably still hear you sighing if I was outside the cafe. Is something up?”

Said short young man plopped into an empty chair, wiping his hands on his already-wet jeans. “You didn’t tell me you hired a new waitress, Mike.”

“Erwin’s idea. Shiganshina’s getting busy. Why, do you need the hours?”

“No, I need the waitress.” Connie sounded utterly spent. 

Erwin blinked. “...The waitress? Sasha?”

“Yeah, her.”

At that, Mike fixed his posture and scooted his chair over to Connie’s. “Now, I don’t mean to discourage you at all from pursuing young love, but that one… Really, Connie? She stuffed half a baked Russet potato in her apron pocket on the first day.”

“It was a long day, in her defense.”

“Her shift was three hours.”

“Three hours too long for the kind of shoes she was wearing.” Erwin raised his eyebrows. He hadn’t even looked at Sasha’s shoes, ever. Funny, considering he waited tables for the longest time and  _ knew  _ what kind of a difference shoes made.

Mike sighed, slowly starting to rock his chair on the two back legs again. “Well, fair enough. If you’re that interested-”

“I am.”

“Let me finish, damn it,” Mike muttered, pulling out his phone to look at his calendar, “If you’re that interested, I can try to get your shifts to overlap. God knows you’ve never had a conversation with her before.”

Connie huffed, ready to retort. “I-...” Erwin gave him an all-too-knowing look, and Connie slumped when he saw it. “I’m...working on it. She’s just always running around everywhere, so I can’t catch her for a conversation.”

“So,” Mike said, with a sly smirk making its way onto his face, “what I’m hearing is that I should put you two on your shifts during the lull in customer flow, yeah?”

The smile was contagious, and Connie grinned with an enthusiastic nod. “Mike, you’re the best.”

Erwin rolled his eyes. “Oh, he knows.”

 

\---

 

“Levi, you do realize this isn’t your personal workspace.”

“Eren, you do realize that I don’t give a fuck.”

Eren tried, unsuccessfully, to glance at what Levi was working on from the other side of the wooden counter. It had been a few weeks since the last tense encounter, and the communication that followed was largely just Eren listening to Levi talk, and, more often, watching him work. Today, it was really only because she’d finished making all of her orders, and it was also because she was waiting for a customer who’d wanted to discuss the possibility of Little Rose handling their wedding flowers. She fiddled with the embroidery on the skirt of her dress, a clean blue and white one with sporadic orange accents, and pouted at the man with the furrowed brow in front of her. “You’re such an unfriendly guy.”

Levi didn’t even glance up from his work when he replied. “And you’re such an overly friendly girl.”

“I’m not overly friendly.”

“And I’m marrying Petra. Now we’re both liars.” There. The tinge of humor coloring his voice. And there. Eren caught the hint of a smirk at the edge of Levi’s thin lips. 

There, right there. The smile that graced his features when his sharp gaze abruptly rose to meet Eren’s playful ones and the same gaze that held the attention of a Caribbean sea for a second before dropping back down to complex numbers and a page of signatures. Eren watched him, watched the quick strokes of Levi’s pen scratching on the paper, watched the way he wrote his letters, fluid and practiced.

“Hey.” Eren’s voice broke through the relative silence, and Levi rewarded it with a short hum. “I’m doing wedding flowers. First time ever.”

“Hm. When?”

“Soon.”

“Good for you. Have you talked with the couple yet?”

“About the wedding flowers?”

Levi rolled his eyes. “No, about how to genetically modify a man so he grows to be fifty meters tall and eats human flesh.  _ Yes,  _ about the wedding flowers.”

Eren pouted and played with the colorful block of neon Post-Its she kept on the counter for writing down orders. “Fuck off. I’m expecting her any minute now.” 

“Oh, really, now?” The tone of Levi’s voice was flat as he flipped idly through one of the packets in his paperwork. The door’s bells jingled, and the raven-haired man couldn’t help but smirk at the way Eren’s eyes lit up as she jerked her head up towards the door. “That must be them, then.”

And then a beat passed. The brunette sighed and slumped once more, so Levi turned towards the door to find Armin standing at the entrance, carefully maneuvering around the flowers on display despite the large box in his arms.

“You’re not the blond I was expecting,” Eren sighed. Armin shot her a dirty look before he retorted sharply. 

“I’m the only one you  _ could  _ be expecting, Eren. There can only be one master blond.”

“Shut  _ up,  _ oh my god.” 

Armin and Eren shared a moment of small, amused smiles before Armin kicked open the door to the back room and set down the flowers with an audible  _ thud.  _ The faint yell of  _ oh, hi, Levi  _ from Armin came as an afterthought, and Levi scowled. He didn’t scowl for long, though, because the bells jingled again, this time for a smaller, friendlier, and perhaps a more scatterbrained blonde who shuffled in with an olive-skinned woman who glanced around the shop before giving a low, impressed whistle. Krista practically dragged Ymir to the counter, sitting her down next to an irritated Levi, before coming around the counter to give Eren a quick hug.

“Hi, Eren. Thanks for agreeing to this. I know weddings can be a lot of work, especially with the number of staff you have now.” Krista giggled, and then stopped and ran her hand across the cotton of Eren’s dress. “Wow, this is gorgeous. You don’t see embroidery like this on clothing anymore.”

“Isn’t it? I got this one at a vintage store. They were closing down so everything was practically free.” Eren grinned brightly, pivoting slightly to admire the embroidered patterns on the wide, colorful skirt. “Well, anyway, sit down, sit down,” she said, ushering Krista to the stool next to Ymir. “We’ve got a lot of designs to plan.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there it is! Thank you for reading this chapter(? mini-chapter???) 
> 
> As always, you can find me on Tumblr at fairly-impolite-trousers. 
> 
> Don't forget to leave a comment! Until next time!


	11. Eleven???

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Awkward encounters and hippies.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize for disappearing off of the face of the earth. My bad.
> 
> I do have some comic relief/slight romantic shit for you all to compensate just a tiny bit. I hope you enjoy! 
> 
> Note: this is not proofread. Forgive me for any errors you may encounter.
> 
> P.S. I don't remember if I've mentioned this already, but welcome-to-the-blog-of-no-fucks has created a beautiful rendition of our favorite brunette in a sun dress and a wide-brimmed hat. It was from a while ago, but I love looking at it often. Thank you so much!

“And so next to the reception table, I want it to kind of… Well, I’m not sure how I’d explain it. Like,  _ poof,  _ but more exciting. You getting me?”

“Ymir, Eren isn’t a mind reader. “Poof” isn’t going to-”

Eren looked up for a moment, pausing to take a look at her concept drawing of the reception flowers. “Well, this is what I just put down. An explosion of flowers, kind of.”

“Yeah, exactly! Can you make this part more like,  _ whoosh?” _

Eren added large, bold white lilies to the arrangement and looked at Ymir for confirmation. The freckled woman nodded enthusiastically and held for hand out for Eren to high-five, which the latter did with a slow-forming grin.

“I cannot believe you two understand each other.” Krista shook her head in disbelief. “You got that from  _ whoosh _ ? Are  _ you two  _ the ones getting married here?”

Ymir let out a short hoot, slinging her arm around the blonde. “Calm down, sweetheart. Eren and I are just bonding on a level that transcends your very understanding, you follow? Don’t give me that look. You’re gonna give this place bad vibes.”

“Krista, you’re getting married to a fucking hippie,” Eren complained with the same grin still plastered on her face. “I like it.” Taking one last look at her sketches, the teal-eyed brunette pulled out her phone, snapping a picture of the papers, and then quickly texting it to Krista. “Here, I’ll send this to you. I know it’s time for you to go. If there’s something you want to change in any part of any display, let me know. Or, you know, if Ymir thinks of another creative adjective to add on to the list.”

Ymir sent Eren a dirty glare. “I slept through all of my college-level English classes. Sue me.”

“Marco’s getting his J.D. soon. Maybe I fucking will.”

“You’re gonna hire my cousin as your lawyer? Good luck, I’ve got blackmail material on him to use for the next decade.”

Eren’s eyes widened in characteristic mischievous amusement. “No. Way.”

“ _ Yes way.”  _ Ymir’s grin was equally impish.

 

“Well, that’s my cue to take this one out of potential crime and into more healthy hobbies, like, say, a haircut.” Krista tugged on Ymir’s arm and reached up to ruffle her hair, much to the latter’s chagrin and Eren’s amusement. 

“My hair is fine.”

“You’re shaggier than our  _ dog _ .”

“Maybe  _ wet dog  _ is a fashion choice I wanna make, okay?”

Eren rolled her eyes and opened the door for the two who continued to bicker playfully as they left the store with a faint tinkling of the bell on the door. Her attention turned back to the man sitting at Little Rose’s counter, typing away at his computer. She shuffled forward a few steps and dropped her chin on Levi’s shoulder, staring intently at the screen. She blinked, surprised for a few seconds. “You write out contracts?”

“I don’t trust anyone else to. Problem?”

“Er, no, sir.” She sniffed with a pout, moving to walk behind the counter, and then shifted back. Sniffed again.

_ Inhaled _ .

It smelled spicy, like soap spiked with an exotic heat that Eren couldn’t quite place. Sunlight that hit the back corner of the spice market, leaving the oils in the plants to release blooms of heady, complex fragrance into the heart of the city. She breathed in the scent again, and then, to Levi’s irritation, dropped her face in the crook of his neck and exhaled loudly. 

“Yes? Can I help you? Why are you in my neck? Have you ever heard of personal space?” Levi was still, and the clacking of his typing on the keys did as well as he stopped to glance over at the brunette who was, quite frankly, ridiculously close.

“You smell  _ amazing _ . What is this?” 

“My cologne?”

“Mm.”

“Black pepper.” Levi’s gaze softened a bit as he smirked, leaning his head back ever so slightly to accommodate Eren’s concentrated sniffing. “You like it?”

“I fucking  _ love it.  _ Where is it from?”

“That’s confidential.”

“Yeah, fuck you.”

“Anytime.” 

The last comment, from Levi, shocked the both of them, and Eren pulled away suddenly. She caught Levi’s eye, and upon seeing his equal confusion, nodded and stepped away to create some distance. New questions about the raven-haired man floated up in the back of her mind, and contrary to the pace of her heartbeat, she reminded herself that she had not had any coffee yet today. She shifted her weight onto one foot. “I heard nothing.”

“...Thank you. Wait, that’s not what I meant. Not that I-...” Levi sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “Fuck. Fuck, Eren, I didn’t mean-”

“It’s okay,” the brunette interrupted. “I say weird things sometimes, too.”

Levi raised an eyebrow. “Like what?”

Eren paused. She was not expecting to have to give an example, but she cleared her throat to stall, biting her lip. “Er, like, um… Can I maybe go back to-....smelling your neck?”

There was a tangible freeze on Levi’s part, but after an awkward beat, he leaned his head to the side, as far as it would go, and looked at the girl. “...Yeah.”

Slowly, ever so slowly, Eren leaned closer, sniffing, trying to figure out where he’d applied the cologne, trying to figure out what substance kept the scent so agonizingly close to the skin. One hand came up to land, tentatively, on Levi’s furthest shoulder, the other gripping the edge of the counter for stability. Levi, impressively, did not move a muscle, allowing Eren to close her eyes and breathe in the scent of black pepper, coriander, vetiver,  and the slightest hint of washing powder. 

Armin had stepped out of the back room to find Eren curled possessively around Levi, with her face in his neck. Levi had his head tilted to the side, seemingly inviting the brunette, and really not opposing the borderline-suggestive position they were in. Armin’s eyes widened, and he attempted to back up into the room he’d just come out of, only to bump against the corner of the counter. Said blonde dropped the bucket of anthuriums he was holding, swearing loudly in the process. “Hey, if you guys are in the middle of something, you could maybe just let me know beforehand so I-”

Levi shot straight up in his chair, knocking Eren off balance. The latter yelped and fell into the water Armin’s bucket had left pooling on the floor, hitting the ground with a garbled mixture of “what the fuck” and “Armin help.” 

Once Eren had regained her coherence, Armin pulled her up, and she sighed, looking down at her soaked dress. “Armin, I really like this dress, too.”

“Wasn’t my fault you guys were all over each other when I walked in. Anyone would be shocked.”

Eren pinched the bridge of her nose, sighing. “Armin, Levi has a girlfriend, remember? It was nothing like that.” It wasn’t completely a lie. Nothing about the exchange earlier was overtly romantic, but oh, the both of them had felt a slight tension, tugging at the back of their minds, a tension that they both chose to wholly ignore. “I just thought his cologne smelled nice, and I wanted to know where to get it. But now my dress is all wet,  _ thank you, Armin.”  _

Armin raised his hands in defeat, looking down. “Fine, fine, okay, I misunderstood. My bad. I’ll clean this up, then, you go get some clean clothes.”

“I don’t have any with me.”

“Hah? Seriously? Run home, then, or go buy something.”

“This shit is see-through when it’s wet. Like hell I’m running home.”

Levi closed his laptop, turning in his chair to get off of the seat. “Can’t you people get anything done? Armin, you clean up, I’ll drive Eren to her house so she can pick up a change of clothes.”

Armin winced at the authoritative tone. “Sorry about that, Levi. Will do.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's it for now! I hope you enjoyed, and as always, I'm fairly-impolite-trousers on Tumblr. 
> 
> Don't forget to leave a comment; tell me what you think!


	12. mini mini mini

As the car rumbled past the window of the shop, Armin sighed, leaning against the counter. He brought a stray strand of hair that had slipped from his ponytail out of his eyes and hooked it onto his ear. Little Rose was just spectacle after spectacle after spectacle, wasn’t it?

The cut on his finger was healing nicely. He prodded at the brightly-colored bandage a bit before dropping his hand, picking up the anthurium stems and plunking them on the counter. He dragged the bucket into the back room––he was done with it, anyway––and dropped it in the corner before sending a harsh glare to the Post-it note stuck on the wall in the bright room. 

_ Grisha Jaeger. Xxx-xxxx. _

Ah, yes, the Post-it that, thankfully, Eren had not seen yet. The number had popped up on the company telephone just the other day, and Armin had answered with floral scissors in one hand, a thick stem in the other, and a cheery disposition overall. And if the older man had not given his name, maybe Armin would not have let his scissors slip off the stem in his shock; maybe his finger would not have been nicked had he not heard the name  _ Grisha Jaeger,  _ this time in a tone so unlike that of the resentful, demonizing man he’d once heard about.

_ “Hello, Little Rose Flower Shop, how may I help you?” Armin chirped into the phone, trying for all he was worth to snip a sunflower stem to size. Happiness. _

_ “Er, hello,” came the unsure response from the other end. “Is this the flower shop that’s doing the arrangements for… for Sina Financial?” _

_ “Yes, sir, we did the arrangements for the banquet a while back. May I ask who’s calling?” _

_ “Is… Well, this may be an odd question, but would you happen to know an Eren Jaeger?” _

_ The blond quirked an eyebrow, confused. “Yes, Eren’s the owner. Are you calling about a particular arrangement? If you’d like to make an appointment, I can write down your information.” He held the scissors and stem in one hand with the phone itself as he fumbled for a pen on the far side of the table in the yellow light of the back room.  _

_ “Oh, yes, that would be great. I mean, not the appointment part, but, well, yes, I’d just like to know he’s well.” _

_ Armin frowned. “Sir, may I ask again who’s calling?” _

_ The surprise coming from the man on the other end was sudden. “Oh! I haven’t… My apologies. My name is Grisha Jaeger.  _ **_I’m Eren’s father._ ** _ ” _

_ The young man involuntarily hissed; he had gripped the phone tightly in shock and had cut into his finger with the floral scissors. “Mr. Jaeger? Do you mind if I call you back at another time? We’re… a bit busy here at the shop at the moment.” _

_ “Oh, I’m so sorry to have bothered you. That’s perfectly fine, yes. Whenever you’re able.” _

_ “Yes, thank you, sir. I’ll get back to you.” _


	13. how many minis

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> what happens, bc it's not a real chapter

“Everything okay in there, Jaeger?” Levi’s voice called out from the cozy living room of Eren’s house, where the brunette expected that Levi had probably made himself some tea.

Eren gave him an affirmative nod, and then a groan of frustration when she realized she’d nodded at the wall. “Mm, yeah, I think so. My zipper’s a little stuck.”

Levi chuckled from the other side of the door, and Eren scoffed. If Levi ever had to zip himself up in a dress, he wouldn’t be laughing. Soon she heard a knock on a door, and when she opened the door, pinching the fabric at the back with one hand, Levi strolled in with a cup of tea. He held the cup so that the steam from the tea drifted into his palm. Now, whether that was for a reason or simply out of habit Eren couldn’t tell. Levi set down the porcelain cup on the windowsill, where the white light filtered timidly in to shine on lavender buds and spray roses.

A romantic. Eren was probably a romantic. Or so Levi had judged when he walked into Eren’s room.

“Let me see,” he said, taking the zipper. He squatted down to get a closer look at the fabric, a dark green that was much more opaque than what Eren was wearing earlier. The edge of the soft material had gotten caught under the metal, so Levi pulled down the zipper an inch or two, carefully keeping the dress in place by pressing down with his fingers. The teacup had made his hands quite warm, and Eren’s breath caught with nervousness as Levi handled the dress so delicately. After a few moments, Levi was able to free the zipper, and he pulled it up quickly, not really minding how cold the metal was to Eren after his warm hands had been there before. A final metal loop clip was at the top. Eren’s eyes widened, slightly, when she felt Levi’s breath dance across the back of her neck while Levi snapped the clip in place. He stepped back at the same time Eren hurriedly stepped forward. “There.”

“Thank you,” Eren whispered. The air in the room was still and heavy, so heavy that even Eren’s soft words broke the mood. Levi responded with his own silent nod, took up his cup again in the same odd way, and padded out towards the car, muttering something about meeting him there once Eren had finished whatever else she needed to do to get ready.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry im always so slow :))


	14. 14

Eren returned to Little Rose alone. Levi had dropped her off at the curb in front of the store, and the two had exchanged a terse few words as the girl stepped out of the car, muttering  _ thank you  _ briefly before hurrying back into the welcoming white lights of the flower shop that shone into the now cloudy grey of the sky. 

“Well, you sure did take your sweet time, Eren,” Armin spoke with affectionate sarcasm, and Eren flushed just barely enough for Armin to take notice, but he said nothing. “Krista called while you were gone. Asked when she could expect an actual sample for the chair pieces, so I told her if she stopped by tomorrow we could have one done. 

Eren nodded, dropping her gaze to the level of the counter. “Sure. I’ll go get the materials ready. The lilies are in? Do I have to take the pollen off of them, or did Annie do that already?”

“She did,” Armin smiled, immediately brightening. “She’s so thoughtful like that, yeah?”

For the first time since she walked in, Eren smiled back. “Cool.” She shuffled into the back room, where she leaned heavily against the door. The smile dropped off her face, and she brought a hand up to touch her neck, briefly, where she remembered Levi’s breath ghosting over it before.

_ Focus, Eren. _

She combed through the buckets of flowers in the chilly air of the room in the back, picking out dogwood, some baby’s breath, and a lily.  _ Love undiminished by adversity. Everlasting love. Return of happiness. _

Eren had known Krista for a very long time, since perhaps high school. She didn’t speak much with the blonde girl during their youth, but she remembered Krista clearly as a very intelligent girl. When Krista revealed she liked women in her senior year of high school, Eren finally understood why it was that for so long she had a lingering feeling that Krista was trying to hide herself. It was because for so long, Krista had endured the pain of having to conceal her true self in order to be safe, in order to be accepted. As an adult she had recounted the story of her journey to Eren, who couldn’t help but gain tremendous respect for the petite girl who stood up to months of ostracism, who was cut off by those she thought were her friends, who grit her teeth and walked away from those who hurt her--her family, the mothers who told their children to stay away, the disgusting classmates who invited her to parties to fetishize her and try to persuade her to make out with the next girl they found.

Krista deserved happiness. Eren touched the petals of the lily lightly in bittersweet contemplation before walking out of the back room to grab her supplies off the counter.

Eren hated the classic look of a wedding chair arrangement. She despised the raw cut stems visible for all to see in its traditional bouquet shape. It was quite literally a bouquet tied to a chair. Eren wanted more than that for Krista. Krista was strong. She was strong, not like a wall or a warrior, but like water. Krista Lenz was versatile; she could adapt to any environment she was thrust into. She could sooth at the same time she could destroy, and Eren admired the way she looked so objectively at any situation. 

Krista brought images of Ymir. Ymir, who was as wild and as free as Krista was calm. Ymir, who unleashed the color in Krista’s cheeks after years of a pale coldness. Ymir, who deserved someone who could ground her like Krista did, and who was every kind of freedom that Krista needed.

For such a special pair, Eren chose to arrange the baby’s breath and dogwood so that the soft flowers could cradle a corner of the chair. The first step was to shape the dogwood branches. To avoid cracking the precious dogwood Eren bent the wood over the bottom of her palm, pulling back with a constant force until she was satisfied with the shape. For particularly intricate shapes or stubborn branches, she pulled wire through the branch to shape it, and then covered the visible parts of the wire with baby’s breath. The dogwood branches gave it a rustic feel, while the small white baby’s breath softened the dogwood’s hard lines. Resting on a foundation of those flowers, the lily of the valley draped itself stunningly over the corner, as if it was a trumpet heralding the couple.

“It’s beautiful.” The voice came from the doorway of Little Rose. Eren turned around and nearly dropped her shears when she saw Petra Ral standing just inside the entrance of the store, staring at the flowers with an emotion Eren couldn’t quite place. 

No.

She  _ could  _ place it. It was the same steely expression Mikasa wore when she visited Carla in the hospital. Eren’s resolve to kick Petra out of the store melted away into a kind of soft pity; whatever it was that was lodged in Petra’s heart, it was not something trivial, and as much as Eren hated the woman, she could not find it in her to disregard the emotion so plainly displayed across her face.

“What are you doing here?” Eren’s voice came out more softly than she would have liked it to. Petra looked up from the flowers. 

“Hi, Eren. I’m here as a representative from Sina.”

“Isn’t Levi usually in charge of these things?” Eren didn’t know if she imagined the way Petra winced slightly when she heard Levi’s name.

“Levi is… busy.” There was a long silence; Eren stared at Petra until she spoke again. “I want to apologize.”

Eren lowered her gaze and picked up her shears from where she had placed it on the table, beginning to cut the ribbon as she was doing before. “It’s a little late for that, don’t you think?”

“I wanted to, but I couldn’t find time to-”

“I come to deliver flowers to Sina Financial every week, and you couldn’t find time to say two little words to me?” Now Eren’s words were clipped, and Petra bit her lip.

“I’m sorry,” Petra returned. Her voice was low, as if she was afraid, as if she had never apologized before in her life. “I’m sorry it took me so long to tell you that I was  _ wrong. _ ”

Eren paused her work and swallowed hard; when she spoke again it was barely a whisper. “Show me.”

“What?”  
The brunette exhaled to calm herself. “Show me you’re sorry with how you act from now on. I’ll give you another chance at trying to _not_ be an asshole. But I’m not promising anything unless you deliver,” she paused, snipping the ribbon, “Got it? The second you step out of line again, I’m gonna kick your ass.”

Petra nodded, albeit somewhat nervously. “That’s fine.”

“And so?” Eren’s tone was suddenly light again. “What does Sina need this time?”

“A get-well arrangement for one of our directors, Mr. Pixis,” Petra replied, her eyes still trained on the chair arrangement. “He had a heart attack, but luckily he was alright. He’s recovering in King’s Hospital now.”

Eren tossed the ribbon in the trash can after an unsatisfying result. “Well, I’m glad he’s alright.” Petra didn’t respond, and the shop was quiet as Eren opted for twine to tie the arrangement to the chair tightly. There was a natural, rustic beauty to the arrangement, with its bent branches and delicate spots of white amongst soft pink. She sprayed the arrangement with mist to help it keep before hoisting the chair up and carrying it to the cooler back room. When she came back, Petra was looking at the counter blankly, a faint smile on her face. 

“Were those for a wedding?” Petra’s words took Eren off-guard, and she blinked before answering.

“Yeah,” she replied, raking a hand through her hair. “How did you know?”

Petra shrugged. “Pinterest.”  _ Fucking Pinterest. _

“One of my clients is getting married soon. She wanted simple and unapologetic, so, here it is. I haven’t done anything except the chair sample, but she asked for reception flowers and also flowers to decorate both brides’ hair.”

This time it was Petra’s turn to blink, as if she had never heard of such a wedding. But she nodded anyway, because Eren was sending a challenge in her eyes, daring Petra to say anything about two women getting married to each other. Petra did not care to meet that challenge. Instead, she sighed and leaned back while Eren pulled flowers from their buckets for Sina’s arrangement. “Are you planning to get married, Eren?”

“Dunno,” Eren said flatly. She didn’t care to pay much attention to Petra’s questions, not when she had neither the interest nor patience. “You?”

“I want to,” the redhead replied, and Eren froze for a quick split-second.

Her words were brisk. “To Levi?”

Petra just nodded, and Eren stiffly tossed the stems she needed on the counter. “Levi’s unlike anyone I’ve ever met. When I was younger, I always thought about dating a rich person. But if it’s him, I don’t think I’d care if he was barely paying rent––I’d still want to marry him, I think.”

“You like him that much? What’s so good about him?” Eren all but spat out the words as she cut the stems in the water and used two stems the diameter of her vase to build a base upon which the other flowers would sit. 

Petra sat down on the counter seat and rested her arms on the table. “He’s kind. In a very strange way. I don’t know, I just like who he is. Not from the beginning, though. In the beginning, he was so friendly with Hanji that I assumed Levi was gay. So I was surprised when he didn’t seem to mind me flirting with him.”

Eren gripped her shears a bit more tightly. A conversation from earlier that day passed through the back of her mind, one that happened as Levi was driving her home:

_ “Why are you so nice to me?” _

_ The older didn’t so much as spare a glance in Eren’s direction as he slammed the door shut, walked around to the driver’s seat, sat down, and started the car. “Why? I can’t be nice to someone all of a sudden? I’ll have you know I’m only a giant asshole at meetings.” _

_ “No, like…” Eren made a gesture that Levi probably didn’t see. “You’re driving me home, you let me sniff your neck--and by the way, to anyone else that would be weird---and… you hugged me that time when I delivered those flowers from Hanji. Listen, I know you’re going out with Petra, but I’m just wondering if I’m misunderstanding something here, because it damn well feels like you-” _

_ “I’m straight.” _

_ Eren flinched. “What?” _

_ “I said I’m straight. Let’s go grab something hot to drink after you finish changing-... turn here?” _

_ “Oh… yeah. Turn here.” _

“Is that so,” she sighed, cutting the yellow roses to size.  _ Friendship.  _ She couldn’t help but think about the darker meaning of the flower as she held it in place and bound the stem with wire.  _ Jealousy.  _ Was she jealous of Petra? Is that why her hand moved towards the yellow roses without hesitation?

The older woman cast her eyes downward suddenly. “I don’t know if he loves me the same.”

“Why are you telling me this?”

“Because.”

  
“Because what?” Eren glanced at Petra with irritated teal eyes, but she rolled her eyes when she saw Petra slumped over the counter, the lower half of her face buried in her sleeves. “All right, this isn’t a bar and I’m not your bartender, but talk to me. I hate pouty women above anything else in this world.”


End file.
